Ashes
by TinkerbellReturns
Summary: AU: Neal Cassidy is a stockbroker in New York. He thinks his life is doing great, until the day he gets a mysterious postcard. Following a friend's advice, he goes see a shrink and before he knows everything starts falling apart, as he takes a trip that will change his life forever. Rated M due to torture, coarse language and mild sexual content in a few chapters.
1. Chapter 1: Back to the Dating Game

_**Chapter 1: Back to the dating game**_

"A tall Clover, please. Elaine"

As she ordered her coffee, fumbling in her pocket for a crumbled 20-dollar bill, the woman barely lifted her eyes from her newspaper. Had she looked to the lady smiling at her from the other side of Starbucks' counter, she would have realized telling her name was unnecessary. Everybody in the place knew who she was.

Not that she was famous – trading stocks was not exactly a celebrity job. Actually, it kind of was, but not for her, at least. Not yet. She still had a couple of zeroes to go.

But then, when you go to the same place every afternoon to sip some coffee while talking to a colleague for exactly 28 minutes before returning to the NYSE for another round of madly stressful work, then people knew who you were.

Elaine Saint-Ries, however, remained oblivious to everyone around her, except for so-called colleague, or rather, friend, who she had worked with for more than six years. She always looked forward to those 28 minutes of chat during her day…

'Actually, 26 minutes, going on 25, due to people being late', she thought to herself, looking at her watch while picking up her coffee and pulling a chair.

"Elaine!"

She turned to look at Neal Cassidy, who had cheerfully outstretched his arms to greet her.

"Cassidy! Cut the crap, it's been what… twelve minutes since we saw each other at the trading floor? You're late, by the—Oh, sorry, I didn't you know you had company", she answered, looking at the blonde woman standing next to Neal.

"Well… Since you insisted so much, I thought you'd be glad to know that I got back to the dating game!" Neal answered, smiling. The woman by his side chuckled a little, and fitted her glasses farther up her nose. "Lydia, this is Elaine. Elaine, Lydia."

"Nice to meet you…" Elaine replied, as Lydia shook her hand and returned the courtesy. She took the opportunity to study the woman's physiognomy, trying not to look rude or suspicious. Blond hair in a ponytail… Blue eyes… Glasses… Cute smile…

"So, Lydia works at the library, and I was late because I rushed to meet her at the subway station so that she could join us today. I'm sorry. I'm sorry", Neal said, as the three of them took a sitting position after picking up their coffees at the counter.

"Well, you know, I was starting to think you'd chosen to head home earlier, since you're taking the rest of the day off", Elaine answered, cheerfully. "But now I know you have other plans for later, I'm glad, I really am."

Before continuing, she sipped her coffee as Neal passed one arm over Lydia's chair and kissed her cheek.

"So, tell me, Tania, whe-",

"It's Lydia", the blond woman corrected politely.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Lydia. It's just that all of you look so… _similar_!"

The smile on the blonde's face was replaced by a puzzled look. Neal frowned.

"I mean… Tania… Sabrina… What was that other one's name? Angie? Angela?"

"Angelina", Neal whispered, still looking worried.

"Yeah, right, Angelina. All of his dates look exactly the same to me! Do you know what I mean?" Elaine asked, sounding amused.

The blonde obviously didn't.

"Elaine, this is just… silly!" Neal let out a nervous laughter, pressing Lydia closer to him, as if trying to reassure her that was just his friend's joke. "So what if I have a thing for blondes?"

"Neal, you don't have a thing for blondes. You have a thing for _Emma Swan_!" Elaine replied.

For a second, she could see something shatter behind her friend's eyes. Just then, Neal had grabbed his cup of coffee and looked away, freeing his arm from behind Lydia's chair.

"No, I don't", he responded, staring at the table.

"You do", Elaine said. "And it's-"

"No, no, look. You wanted me to date other people, right", he answered, flustered. "That's what I'm doing, I'm dating other—"

"No, Neal, you're not", Elaine let go of her coffee to hold his hand. "You've been dating the same person for the six years we've known each other, that's the thing. It's always been the same person. And you are not going to find what you're looking for, Neal, because she's gone. _Gone_."

When Neal looked up from the table, she felt genuinely sorry for her friend. He had a sad, haunted look in his eyes that confirmed everything she had just said.

"Perhaps I should go", Lydia said, faking a smile.

"No, Lydia, wait…" said Neal, trying to hold her back.

"No, it's fine. Really. It is", she mumbled, as she stood up. "It was really great meeting you. Bye".

And then she rushed to the door.

"Gods, Elaine, what have you done?"

"Saved her from worse heartbreak. We both know how that would end", Elaine answered, looking less than worried.

"I have to talk t-" Neal said, as he also stood up and made to move toward the door.

"Neal, don't. It's done. It's better like this", Elaine interrupted, grabbing his arm, and making him sit again. "She will live. You, my friend, _you_ are the one that worries me."

"There's nothing for you to worry about."

"Neal."

The two stared at each other for a while. Elaine had taken a liking to him since day one, on his first day as an apprentice at 18 Broad Street. She really cared about him, and she knew that he had been through his bunch of rough patches – even though he never told her much about his past.

Except for Emma Swan, of course. Elaine bet he did it unconsciously, but whenever he felt particularly happy about something in his life, he managed to bring her name into the conversation. By now, Elaine had already learned what her favorite color was, the kind of chocolate she ate, that she had given him a dreamcatcher, that she drove a yellow bug…

It was really sad.

"Neal, I know that there are things you don't tell me, and you must have your reasons", she said, as Neal moved uncomfortably on his chair. "And that's ok. I just… I just think you should talk to somebody, to get things off your chest."

Elaine put her purse on the table and fetched her wallet from inside it.

"Here", she said, giving Neal a business card, reading Dr. 'Eli Sinclair – Psychotherapist'.

"A shrink? Really?" Neal looked even more depressed than before.

"I'm not telling you that you're crazy, or anything like that, so don't give me that look… It's just, I think you need to move on, and… I don't think you can do this alone. If I can't help you, then maybe a specialist will."

She saw Neal look carefully at the card, and wondered what was going on in his mind.

"I guess now you are the one who'll be late", he whispered, still looking at the card.

"Damn!" Elaine exclaimed as she looked at her watch. "You mean, I'll be the one who's fired, right? Twenty minutes late, you have to be kidding!"

As they said their goodbyes and left Starbucks, Elaine took a final look at Neal, who had picked his earphones and connected them to his cell phone, after flinging his backpack over his shoulder. She hoped he would give the doctor a chance. She hoped he would move on. And more than anything, she hoped she would see him truly happy… _at least once._


	2. Chapter 2: The Postcard

_**Chapter 2: The Postcard**_

_Everybody said that you'd better watch out/ Man, she's gonna turn you in_

He was over Emma Swan.

He loved Elaine dearly – after all, she was pretty much his only friend in that crazy city. And she did know him well, but that time… That time she was way off base.

He was _so_ over Emma Swan.

_And me, you know that I thought that I looked out / Now look at the trouble that I'm in / you know, you'd better -_

Neal Cassidy made his way into the subway station, letting the song pounding in his ears wash away the bitter taste that earlier conversation left in his mouth. It shouldn't be that much of a deal, though; there were other important things he had to deal with.

It was just that he couldn't actually think of any at that moment.

_ Watch out for Charley's girl_

He had to shop for groceries… He had to fix that irritating squeak his apartment door was making… And he had, of course, to call Lydia to straighten things up. Better yet, he had to _meet_ with her. _Tonight._

_Watch out for Charley's girl_

He had just arrived at his apartment, still lost in his own thoughts, when it started to rain.

_'Perfect. Just what I needed_', Neal thought, as he dropped his backpack and his keys over the bed, moving near the window to shut it close.

Some days felt longer than others - usually the worst ones. The other three longest days of his life were the ones he had to work particularly hard to forget. On the last of those, he was promised he would receive a postcard that never actually came.

_'Stupid.. rain… Stupid… window…'_, he muttered mentally, struggling to shut a window that wouldn't budge, despite his best efforts._ 'Stupid August and his l-_'

The image of his cell phone crashing down the emergency staircase after slipping from his hand was more than enough to interrupt his thoughts for a few seconds. He dropped his head in defeat, with his elbows on the table by the window, and then let out a sigh.

Ok, so _maybe_ he was _not_ over Emma Swan.

He wished, from the bottom of his heart, that he could just let go. Move on, as Elaine said. He really wished he had dismissed the whole thing a long time ago. Whatever happened to Emma, to August, to the curse, the fact was that he wasn't a part of it. He wasn't a part of that story. Hence never getting the postcard. Hence never getting to see Emma again.

He felt as if there was an invisible hand squeezing his heart. His mind had put all the pieces together and was ready to turn a new leaf, but his heart was having none of it. The simple idea of giving up hope was way too painful.

And then, out of nowhere, came the pigeon of fate to mess up his mind, as if his mind needed any more messing up. It had a postcard connected to its leg, and Neal felt his heart skip a beat. On it, there was one single word, the one that he had waited for so long…

'Broken'

His mind went blank. He turned the postcard around and read, "Greetings from Storybrooke Maine", on top of a drawing of some clock tower. Maine. Curse. Emma. The curse is broken. Emma. Curse. Broken.

"She is free", he whispered, after staring at the postcard for a few more moments. He had waited for that moment for eleven years.

And now, he had no idea what to do.


	3. Chapter 3: I'll tell you everything

_**Chapter 3: I'll tell you everything**_

Being free, in that particular case, did not mean being available. Or being willing to forgive and start from scratch. Or willing to ever see your face again.

These were the questions that had kept Neal's mind busy over the last few hours, as he sat on the floor of his apartment, next to the table under the open window he had wisely given up trying to close. He knew that there was no point, really, thinking about those things. There was simply no point. Emma Swan was in Storybooke, Maine, she had broken the curse, and now the ball was on his court. Now he had to pick up his things and go - that had been his decision since the day he met August in Vancouver and the other man said he would send him a postcard once that insanity was over. That was it. There wasn't much to think about. Just pick up your things and go.

Except that eleven years had passed and _that_ changed everything.

He was not the same person he was eleven years ago, and sure as hell Emma was not the same girl who had fallen in love with him at that time. She had done time because of him. She had spent all those years thinking he had turned her in – in other words, she'd had plenty of time to turn every single drop of love and affection into anger and resentment towards him.

And that was exactly the reason why he had to go and find her - he owed her an explanation. It was high time he got his facts straight; this was not about him being forgiven and the two of them getting back together. It was all about giving Emma what she should have been given a long time ago: the truth.

He rose to his feet before his alarm clock went off for the first time in years. Luckily for him, the nightmares had stopped long ago, which obviously meant that he had to deal with the ghosts of his past when he was actually awake. That dreamcatcher was good, he had to admit, but it would be even better if it helped delete unwanted memories.

"You're early… _again_", said one of his co-workers as soon as Neal Cassidy arrived at the New York Stock Exchange. "Thought you didn't go in 'til 11? Have you changed shifts with Elaine?"

"No, not really, no," Neal answered, too tired to add that Elaine and him always worked the same shifts, so there was no way they could have changed them.

After the brief meaningless dialogue, Neal turned to his computer screen again, unable to focus on the graphs unfolding before his eyes. Dots, lines, numbers, letters… Nothing seemed to make sense after days of sleepless night, which were made visible by the dark circles under his eyes and his cranky mood.

He had made up his mind on heading to Maine, so why was he still in Manhattan, anyway? He had to see Emma again, to apologize, to explain, to get closure, and yet, part of him refused to delve into his past again, especially since there was _so much more to it_ than a bad breakup.

And because of that part of him, which screamed and kicked every time he had packed his bags to go to Storybrooke, he continued to stare at the RSI for the Everglade Solar Inc. stocks, not really caring whether they would bounce back from its ludicrous 12.5 value.

"What are you doing?" Elaine's alarmed voice made him blink.

_ 'Fair question. I have no idea,'_ he thought to himself, before looking over his shoulder and answering properly. "I'm buying them back. I know I sh-"

"No, you're not. You're _selling_ them! I thought you were going to pull a bullish failure swing," Elaine said, looking at his computer screen in disbelief.

"I was. I think…" Neal whispered, watching numbers in red pop up all over his screen. He then realized that whatever action he had planned to take, he had clearly failed.

"Wow. The guys at Everglade are so not going to be happy today", Elaine said, grabbing a folder and her cell phone and walking towards the opposite side of the trading floor.

Neal was not sure how bad his mistake had been, but years of experience in the stock market had shown him that millions could have gone down the drain in those few minutes. He covered his eyes for a minute, and then did the only reasonable thing he could do in such circumstances.

He shut down his computer and walked towards the exit.

On his way out, he managed to make eye contact with Elaine, who mouthed a very clear "What are you doing?" from across the hall.

"Leaving," Neal answered.

"What?"

Judging by his friend's face, she couldn't actually hear him. Before trying again, he searched around for a piece of paper, and after ripping out a page from somebody's day planner, he wrote a single large word that he hoped would explain it all.

_ Shrink_

Apparently, it did. Elaine's face softened, and he crumpled the paper before heading to Dr. Eli Sinclair's office.

"So your "Eli" is short for Elise, huh? Interesting…" Neal said, trying to break the ice as he took a seat at the doctor's office.

"That is correct. And your name again is…"

He flinched at the question, but tried to keep his face straight.

"Neal. Neal Cassidy."

"OK. So what has been bothering you, Neal?"

"I haven't been able to sleep lately."

"I see."

He looked from his hands to the ceiling, and then back to the woman sitting in the armchair opposite him. He wondered what else she expected him to say.

"I'm sorry. I don't really know how to do this", he said, with his most charming smile, trying unsuccessfully to hide his own discomfort.

"It's all right. Why don't we start with something simple? Tell me who you are."

_ 'That is not something simple,_' he thought, as he smiled again.

"Tell me about where you come from, your family, what you do for a living… whatever you feel comfortable sharing."

_'None of the above, I guarantee…_' he again pondered, trying not to show any signs of his frustration. He took a long, deep breath. If that was to work, he had to ask, even if he felt it would be useless.

"Do you… believe in _magic_, doctor?" he had finally gathered the courage to voice his question.

"What I believe in is immaterial," Dr. Sinclair responded, her face serene and showing little surprise. "The question is, _do you?_"

Neal couldn't help but roll his eyes at her answer, laughing bitterly. Again, the woman sitting opposite him showed no signs of emotion.

"OK," Neal took a long, deep breath before continuing. What was the worst that could happen, anyway? "I'll tell you everything."


	4. Ch4: The boy in the land without magic

_** Chapter 4: The boy in the land without magic**_

"I grew up in a village… very far from here. My mother passed away when I was really young, and I don't remember much about her. I don't even remember how she died… don't think I was ever told that, to tell you the truth.

"My father raised me all by himself. He had been injured in a war, so life was hard. I mean, I think he was injured during war, but we never talked about that. Maybe he lied. Anyway, the other villagers were quite mean to him, not so much for the injury, but because he had run from a battle and lots of other soldiers had died because of that.

"Even so, he always managed to bring home food and whatever we needed to survive. It was a life of no comfort, but that was enough. For me, at least. Could it be better? Maybe. Could it be worse? Hell yeah.

"Things did get worse, more than that, even, when I was about to turn fourteen. At that time, the whole land was still in war, and kids would be recruited to fight at the age of fifteen. That is, 'til they lowered that age to fourteen, which meant my time had come to go to the battlefield.

"Papa was terrified. Sorry, I have to say, that's how I called him when I was young. Papa. He was scared. Scared that I would go into battle and die. I was scared too, but not as much as him. If the law said I was to fight, then… I would fight. But my father had other plans.

"Now that I look back, I can see how fast things deteriorated from that moment on. I should have simply waited for him to fall asleep and left. Maybe I would have died in battle, maybe I wouldn't. At least none of this insanity would have ever taken place…

"But as I was saying, things went from bad to worse in no time at all. I won't go into detail as to what my father's plan was, but I'll tell you that it worked. He got what he had planned to get, and he became a powerful man. A man with enough power to end the war and save thousands of lives, and also to brutalize and take the life of many others.

"I know. I know I sound rough, and probably at that time I wouldn't. I know. Power can change people, and it always does. No matter what your intentions are… I know that he was only trying to protect me, but I wonder what else he thought I expected, or needed, from him. Wealth? Luxury? Eternal youth, eternal health?

"I never cared for anything like that. All I wanted was to have a family and a home. And I was losing him, the only family I had… I was losing him to magic. What's that? Oh, did I say "magic"? I'm sorry. I meant _power_. I was losing my father to _power_. But I knew that he was still my father, and I wanted to save him. Save us both.

"And then I did the second most stupid thing of my life. No, I lie – the third most stupid thing of my life. I got in touch with someone who was even more powerful than him, and asked for help. I asked for a way out, and sure as hell I got one. All that I – we – had to do was leave everything behind and move to a distant land where his power would be useless.

"I should have known, at that time, that it wouldn't be as easy as it looked like. I should have thought of a plan B. I shouldn't have believed in magical solutions. Now I know that they always come with a price… One that may be too high for you to pay.

"To cut a long story short, we made our preparations, and set off. Except that when we were about to… how can I say it…_ to start our journey_, so to speak, he let go of me. He realized he would be powerless in this new land, and he just couldn't do that. Even if that meant that the two of us would be apart.

"And that's how I ended up here. Alone. I was fourteen years old and I had never been outside my village. I felt like I had landed in another planet, and there was no one I could turn to. People would laugh at my clothes. I had no ID when I ended up in jail for loitering. I didn't even know what loitering was.

"I'm going to skip the other details as well, because I don't really want to go back there. But I'll tell you this. The years went by, and I managed to make a living. I was no hero. I used to think I was doing the best out of the options that I had been given. Now I see that I just didn't care whether they were the best decisions or not, mainly because there was nothing to look forward to. It didn`t actually matter if I went to jail, if I never settled down…

"Then, one day, I stole a yellow bug. I told you: I was no hero. That's what I did for a living. So here I am, sleeping on the back seat of this car, when a blond girl steals my stolen car. I can't really explain why, but I knew, right away… _I knew she was a keeper_.

"I'm sorry. Can you give me a minute?

"What's that? If I need tissues? No, I'm fine, it's just one of those allergies. No, it's okay, really, I can go on. Thanks. Where was I?

"Oh, right. Emma Swan was her name. For the first time in all those years, I actually started thinking about settling down, and we made plans. We would go to Florida, buy a house near the beach, we would start looking for real jobs, maybe go back to school… You know what? For the first time after that day my father left me, I had a future, even if it was an imaginary one, and it felt _good_.

"It felt good 'til the night of our final act as outlaws, so to speak. All I had to do was fence a few expensive watches, meet my woman at the parking lot, and head south. Then this guy shows up out of nowhere and tells me I need to stay away from Emma because she had a destiny to fulfill and if I stayed with her, I would ruin it.

"Yes, I believe in destiny. But of course I refused to leave her. That is, 'til my past caught up with me and I was reminded I still had dues to pay. Or maybe they weren't mine to pay at all… It doesn't really matter. That man told me something bad was going on in our land, and then showed me something that made me believe every single word he was saying.

"If I tell you what it was, you probably would take many more notes than you are taking now, and judging by your face, would prescribe drugs that are much stronger and way more expensive than the ones you have in mind now. Yeah, I've done a little research before coming, you know.

"So, I'll just tell you this: he showed me something that belonged to my father, and all of a sudden I felt there was no ground beneath my feet. I've already told you two of the most stupid mistakes of my life: not fighting in war and looking for a magical solution to my father's problem. Now here is the third, maybe the biggest of them.

"I agreed to walk out of her life so that she could go and fulfill her destiny, which in short was to… well, I don't know how to rephrase this one, so go ahead and use your imagination. She was the only one who could break the curse my father had cast.

"I walked out, meaning: I let the woman I loved, and still love, take the fall and go to jail. I saw a man I had never seen before in my life call the police office pretending he was me, simply because words had failed me all the three time I had tried to talk to them.

"Sometime later, I met with August – that was his name – as we had agreed we would do. I had fenced the watches and got a clean VIN number for the bug, and I left all for her so that she would have something to hold on to when she left jail. If I couldn't be with her, at least the money and the car would allow her to have some comfort and a fresh start.

"He told me I would receive a postcard once her job was done, so I waited.

"I decided I would keep my nose clean and work my ass off to have a decent life, so that when we met again, I could offer the things she truly deserved. Again, I'm not going to bother you with all the details, but let's say I knew the tricks of the trade. You wouldn't believe how much money you can make by finding out what people need and then trade it for other things… I made a decent amount of money in a very short time.

"I did a lot of studying on the side… Never actually went to college, but I had a thing for numbers and trade, so back in the day I got to do business with people who were real sharks, and ended up learning a thing or two from them. Before I knew, I was working at the New York Stock Exchange, and saving every cent I made.

"What for? For when she came back. But the years went by and she never did… Never got a single letter from anyone, let alone a postcard. 'Til a few days ago – I don't even know how many. Now I know where she is, but I know that where she is is also where my past is, and I can't actually stay without feeling I should go, and cannot go without feeling I should actually stay. So now it is your turn to talk. What should I do?"


	5. Ch5: The only thing she wasn't ready for

_**Chapter 5: The only thing she wasn't ready for**_

"Had you been outside Storybrooke before, Mr. Gold?" asked Henry, while riding a yellow taxi in downtown New York.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific than that, Henry. Outside Storybrooke can mean a lot of different things", replied Mr. Gold, trying to keep a friendly conversation with the boy after their disastrous hour at the airport. He certainly hadn't made much of an impression among his fellow travel companions when he asked a customs official whether he had ever been impaled upon a cane.

Emma Swan, who had taken the front seat near the taxi driver, had secretly found the whole situation very amusing, although she made sure to tell Gold off for his imprudent behavior.

"We're here. I guess…" she said, before Henry could actually resume his investigation on Mr. Gold's previous endeavors. "Are you sure this thing works?" asked Emma, looking suspiciously at the green dot flashing in and out of her map of New York, precisely upon the corner of Langley and Orchard.

"Well, dearie… That's what we are about to find out," said Mr. Gold, opening his door and pulling himself out of the taxi with his "cane of doom", as Emma had mockingly remarked.

"Hey, hold on a sec," she said, hurriedly paying the driver and getting out of the vehicle to catch up with a very fast-paced Mr. Gold, who had reached the building's staircase surprisingly quickly. "Henry, stay here for a minute," she pointed to a bench nearby and set off after the older man. "Gold, wait!"

She saw the man stop on his tracks even though his hand was already on the door handle. If looks could actually kill, she surely would have dropped dead when Mr. Gold turned his head to look at her.

"Ms. Swan, I appreciate how well you handled this little trip of ours on such short notice, but I regret to say your participation in this matter is now over."

"Strong words, but you can drop the act. The truth is that you're scared of what you'll find when you open that door," said Emma, not letting Mr. Gold's disdainful snicker get to her. He could act as tough as he wanted, but she could still see the cracks.

"I'm honored for such worry," Mr. Gold let out a little smile, but his eyes still burnt with anger and impatience. "But it is not as if I had anything left to lose,_sunshine_."

"Trust me, we always have something left to lose," Emma said, her voice barely a whisper as she turned to look at Henry. "A word of advice," she continued, this time taking a step closer to Mr. Gold, "One that I really think you should take. I've been behind that door myself, and I totally freaked out when I met my parents 28 years after they abandoned me. I know the circumstances here are different, but believe me, the "freaking out" part is not."

"Again, what makes you th-"

"Let me go first. I'm a bail bondsperson, remember? I'm good at this," interrupted Emma. "If you go inside now and things go wrong, you may not have another chance, Gold. You're not in Storybrooke anymore, things are different here."

She watched as Mr. Gold turned away from the door and went past her, stopping right behind her for a final threat.

"Emma, I swear that if things go wrong because of you, I-"

"Yeah, I know. You will kill my whole family. This is getting old, you know," Emma said, looking at the dot in the enchanted map - it was now flashing faster and stronger than ever. She turned to look at the man behind her with an expression that showed no fear at all. "Sorry to disappoint you, but it's not gonna happen. Just wait here and keep an eye on Henry. Oh, and Gold?"

"What now?"

"What is his name again?"

For the first time during that trip, and perhaps for the first time since she met him, Emma could clearly see his facade crumble down: Mr. Gold had never looked more tired or older than when he answered her question.

"Bae. Baelfire."

As Emma pushed the bar door open, it occurred to her she also needed a last name. _'Never mind_,' she thought. _'With a name like that it's not like it's going to make a difference.'_

She took one final look at the map and walked towards the counter… Instead of flashing, the dot was now glowing continuously. She glanced around, and realized that there were only six people in the bar. Two were women – _out._ One had just left and the dot didn't move – _out_. The barman was blond, and according to Mr. Gold, she should look for someone with brown hair, and though she actually thought hair color was not the most reliable physical trait…_out_. That left two possible suspects. An old man who was having beer alone in one of the dimly lit tables, and another who was wearing a hoodie while talking to a redhead near the counter.

Emma moved towards the old man, only to find out that the dot had started flashing again.

"Bingo", she whispered, as she drew a long breath and got ready to approach the man sitting by the counter, mentally rehearsing her lines.

"Excuse me," she said, as she stood behind the man. For one moment, she thought that maybe being Rumplestiltskin's son would take its toll on someone's sanity, but she was ready for it. There was nothing he could throw at her that she hadn't already heard. There was nothing that would actually shock her.

Nothing, _except this_.

When brown eyes met hers, her thoughts turned to dust. Whoever she had expected Mr. Gold's son to be, this was _definitely not i_t. It had to be a joke, a cruel one at that.

"Neal?"


	6. Chapter 6: If things can get worse

**_Chapter 6: If things can get worse… _**

As Neal had found out the day before, the whole psychotherapy thing was about asking the right questions, not exactly _answering_ them. For that reason, at the end of one hour telling his story, the only response he had gotten from Dr. Sinclair was a pat on the back for being on the right track questioning his own motivations and desires._ 'Now that's 200 bucks well spent…'_ he thought, as he walked down Langley Road with his hood on, as if trying to stay away from the world around him.

The postcard had made him restless, true, but there was something else going on, though he couldn't actually put his finger on it. He felt, somehow, that the air was heavier than usual, as if the stars had aligned differently the night before… Whatever it was, it was making him uneasy.

Perhaps that was the reason why he had decided to reach out for that old acquaintance, one that he swore to himself he would never again turn to, not after that night when he first met August, not after all that magic had cost him…

He had managed to put that other life behind him, and that had done him good. But now, what did he have to lose? His gut was telling him that his little _mise-en-scene_ in Manhattan would soon come to a close, though he really didn't know when, how or _why_. By the time he reached the bar at the corner of Langley and Orchard, he had already come to the conclusion that now was as good a time as any to see her again…

Even if the rundown medieval-style bar were crowded, he wouldn't have any difficulty spotting her. Her long orange hair was held in a high ponytail, and her translucent skin drew even more attention to her bright red lipstick-covered lips and blue eyes highlighted by heavy layers of mascara and kohl. It was easy to understand why every now and then the five or six customers hanging around would eventually stare open-mouthed at her figure, wondering if such looks actually belonged to this world.

_Little did they know._

"So you still have the same phone number, huh? Amazing," Neal said, taking a seat next to her.

"Why wouldn't I? I knew that one day, that phone would ring. Glad it was you", the woman responded, still looking at the tequila shot in front of her.

"Too bad I can't say my phone will ring again anytime soon…", he replied, raising his eyebrows. "Long story. Luckily I had your number saved somewhere else. Anyway, you must be curious as to-"

"Why you called after 11 years of silence?" she interrupted. "Not at all, my friend. _Not at all_."

Neal was not sure as to what he felt when Tinkerbell turned to look at him after such long time. Despite his aversion to magic, there was no way he could deny he was happy to see her again.

"Here's to a curse well broken," she said, lifting her glass for a toast, and drinking it all with one big gulp.

"So you know it," Neal responded, after ordering his own drink.

"Indeed I do."

"How?"

"You have your contacts, I have mine. Let's leave it at that for now," she replied, as the bartender poured her another shot.

"Works fine with me," Neal lied. Or maybe he didn't, and he really didn't care. One way or another, learning who her contacts were would have to wait; that was not the reason why he had asked her to meet him. "So what are you going to do now?"

"You mean, what _we_ are going to do now."

"_We_?"

Her shiny blue eyes pierced through his again.

"Magic is here, kid. There is no way you can run now. You can feel it, can't you?" she said.

He sipped his whiskey, trying to ignore the flutter in his stomach. It made perfect sense, though, that the two of them were able to feel something was off. After all, magic had touched them both, albeit in very different ways, and even though he was reluctant to dig into it, he had to know…

"Magic? What kind of magic?" he asked, trying to hide his concern.

"_Rumplestiltskin_."

He felt whiskey burning his nostrils as he choked and some of the drink went out of his nose. Next thing he knew, the lights in the dimly-lit bar flashed and the place was in complete darkness for endless seconds.

"Did you do that?" he asked Tinkerbell when the lights flashed back.

"No, _he_ did. You have to go, he is here," she answered, staring at the counter, as in some sort of trance.

He was about to stand up and follow her advice with no questions asked, when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Excuse me."

His sight was still blurred after the whiskey incident, but even with watery eyes he was able to recognize the woman standing before him in the flash of a dime. Now whether what his eyes were showing him was actually real, that was an entirely different story; he had seen Emma Swan a million times ever since they parted. Every now and then, he would see her in his apartment, at the post office, at the coffee shop… he would even see her in his dreams. He had to admit, however, that this Emma Swan he was looking at now was totally different from the others. She looked even more beautiful than the girl in glasses and a ponytail from eleven years ago, if that was remotely possible.

"Neal?"

And that was officially the first time one of the _Emmas_ he saw actually talked to him.

He stood up, trying to organize his thoughts as he stared into her eyes. For a moment, he wondered if the shock he saw in those blue eyes was his, or hers. Possibly both. All he knew was that his heart was about to burst from his chest, and his mind was racing. Eleven years had passed and yet, nothing had really changed. He still loved that woman.

"You have to be kidding me," Emma said, her voice barely a whisper, and the sadness in her face reminded him that eleven years had passed, and actually_everything had changed_.

"Emma… I'm so sorry…"

Not the best conversation starter, but that was the first thing he could think of. And it was the truth, at least - he was terribly sorry for everything. He wished she would say something, though, even if that meant calling him names, slapping him in the face and eventually walking out. He deserved all of that, and it would be a reaction he could deal with. Her pained look, on the other hand, was way too hard to stand, and he was starting to worry that something was awfully wrong with that reunion.

"Emma… _How_… Please say something."

"She brought him. _He's here_", Tinkerbell said, gulping down another tequila shot with relative calm. Her voice startled Neal, who had completely forgotten about her. "If you wanna leave, you've gotta do it now."

_'If things can get worse, they will'_. That was the only thing Neal could think of when the redhead walked to the other side of the lounge and pulled off a rusty sword and a cracked spear that hung from one of the walls.

"I'll buy you some time. Go!" she said, taking a final look at him and then walking towards Emma.

"What the hell are you do-"

Before Neal could finish his sentence, the bar door blasted open and he saw the last person he expected to meet in those circumstances. It had to be some sort of nightmare; such things did not happen in real life, not even when magic was involved.

"Bae?"

His father's voice made his own catch at his throat. Adrenaline rushed through his body, urging him to run as fast as he could from that man that he loathed beyond any hope… and yet, had missed desperately. He spent a few seconds taking his face in; he looked so different now. Older, more tired, maybe…_wiser_? But who was he fooling? He was still the Dark One, he was still the man who had chosen power over his own son.

He felt as if he had been hit in the head with a brick – not once, but twice. And then once again. He let himself go numb, or the feelings clashing inside him would tear him apart. He took one step back, and then another… When he realized, he was running towards the back exit.

"Neal, wait!", Emma shouted and made to follow him, only to be blocked by the other woman and her weapons.

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to deal with me first, love, if you don't mind," Tinkerbell said, throwing Emma the sword and spinning the spear defiantly.

"I don't have time for this sh-"

A blow of the spear that barely missed her head made Emma stop mid-sentence, and when Neal looked back, the two women were already engaged in full battle. Once again, he tried to find any sense in that surreal scene: after the bartender and the other customers had wisely left the building, his father, the Dark One, stood by the door, while a fairy and the love of his life battled to death and he was about to stage the most coward escape of his life.

"What're you waiting for?" asked a nearly strangled Tinkerbell, trying to escape Emma's clutch. Then, when the blonde turned to look at him, the fairy took the chance to pin her against a wall.

"Mom!"

Neal had touched the door handle, but something in that voice, or yet, in that word, made him freeze. If that was a nightmare, he needed to wake up. Right. Now.

"You brought your son?", Tinkerbell asked, barely hiding her surprise as she located Henry by the entrance door. She then released Emma as if she had touched fire.

"How do you know he's my son?", Emma sounded, and looked, absolutely terrified.

"Because he just called you mom," Neal said, walking back to the bar lounge, looking as pale as a ghost.


	7. Chapter 7: Fathers and Sons

**_Chapter 7: Fathers and Sons_**

_"There are boundaries we cross, in spite of the war / But our own, we can't seem to cross."_

In his life, he had done many things he was not proud of. He had had centuries of deals and vendettas, bets, curses, spells, betrayal, death. He was used to not being invited to parties, to people pretending not to see him walking down the street, to having someone pull the rug from under his feet. After the unfortunate run in with that impostor he later found out to be Pinocchio, he realized how much he had let his desire to be forgiven by his son blind him to the obvious truth.

There was no way Baelfire would simply forget that dreadful night when his own father let go of his hand to hold on to his powers. And, of course, their reunion wouldn't be a joyful one. He should have known that by then, and this time, he was ready to be yelled at, to be snubbed or even to be physically attacked, if that was the case.

But nothing,_ nothing_ in this universe or the next, could have prepared him for the desperate look in his son's eyes. That had to hurt more than any kind of injury or offense he had ever been inflicted upon.

As he looked from his son's pale face to Henry, and then to Emma getting to her feet with her face covered in tears, he suddenly realized that there was something else going on.

"Neal, please," he heard Emma Swan plead as she approached his son.

"Emma…"

"Please… don't."

"How old is he? Emma", his son whispered, his voice shaking with every word. "Emma, is he…"

Rumplestiltskin was not sure as to what his final word had been, neither could he hear what Emma told him after that. He didn't have to. What he had seen and heard so far had been enough to make his blood freeze.

"What have I done?" he muttered to himself, as he put together the pieces of that puzzle and finally understood there was more than one father in that room.

_How had he not seen it?_ He had spent every single day of his life designing a curse that would enable him to find his son; he had calculated every single detail so that nothing would go wrong, so that he would be in charge of everything and everyone.

_How could that have happened?_

He saw Emma Swan fly past him, and turned his head to see Tinkerbell leading Henry outside, in an obvious attempt to distract the kid that would only much later be thanked for by an infuriated mother, who at that moment could only see the redhead as a mad child-stealing punk.

_'Blessed be the fairies'_, he thought, immediately reproaching himself for that inexcusable statement.

He closed the door behind him, and saw Bae, or Neal, as he apparently wanted to be called now, sitting at the counter, with his head resting upon his folded arms. Silent as he was, his shaking shoulders gave his pain away.

Before taking any step forward, Rumplestiltskin lowered himself to grab the enchanted map Emma had dropped to make sure that this time, it was _really_ his son. He had been mistaken once, after all, and was not sure his heart could take another inch of disappointment.

And there was the magic dot, which he had conjured with a drop of his own blood, glowing intensely as he took one step closer to Neal. _He had found him._After all those years, that was it. His blood, his beloved child, the flame that made him human. He felt the taste of salt on his lips as he outstretched his arm to touch his son after centuries of search, hoping they could be a family again, hoping he would let his old father back into his life…

_"Don't…_ touch me," Neal had jumped from his seat after feeling a hand on his shoulder. His voice was void of emotion, but his tear washed face was loaded with hate. "Don't you come any closer."

"Bae…"

"DON'T. Call me that name."

"All right son," Rumplestilstkin answered, keeping his voice low and trying to calm him down. "All right. Whatever y-"

"I AM NOT YOUR SON!", Neal yelled, at the top of his lungs. "Your son doesn't exist anymore, he's gone! I grew up without you, I don't want to see you, I don't need you! Do you realize what you have done? Do you? Do you realize that you broke me not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES? What is wrong with you, how dare you look for me after the hell my life has been because of YOU!"

Rumplestiltskin took a step back and held on to his cane as if not to stumble under the strength of his son's words. What would he say? What _could_ he say? It would be useless to claim he was as shocked as anyone else, that he had not foreseen any of that. Still, he deserved it all; it was only fair to give Bae the chance to unleash his fury upon him.

"Letting go of me that night… That was nothing. Now that I think about it, it was nothing at all. I spent years falling through that green vortex, having nightmares about it, but you know what? That was nothing. _Nothing_," Neal smiled as tears ran from his eyes and he took one step closer to look deep into his father's eyes, wishing he could make the old man feel suffer, wishing he could feel his pain. "I had to give up the only woman I ever loved because of your stupid curse, because you, YOU had predicted she would be the Savior, and then, because MAGIC ALWAYS COME WITH A DAMN PRICE, and I'm the one who seems to pay for yours, I just found out that she had my son, and I was not there."

That final sentence had been too much for Neal. He lifted his hands to his head and took a long, deep breath before faking a nervous smile and looking at his father again.

"I was not there for my son!" his voice cracked, as fresh tears ran down his face. He then walked past Rumplestiltskin, who in turn remained frozen in the spot, without really knowing what to say.

Whatever was left of his heart had shattered with his son's grief, and there was nothing that he could say, or do, that would make up for everything he had put his son through. But he had looked for Bae for too long, and loved him way too much, to let him go again. He would be the father Bae deserved, and he would wait as long as he had to until those wounds healed, and he would be _by his side_.

"You can still be there for him, Ba—Neal. You can still be the father I was never able to be. And I know you will. This time, I will be there for you. I will make up for the time we lo—"

When he turned around to look at his son, he realized there was no one else in the bar lounge.


	8. Chapter 8: Aftershocks

_**Chapter 8: Aftershocks**_

"Hey, you!" Emma Swan said between gritted teeth. "Where the hell do you think you're taking my kid?"

"Outside. Got a problem with that?" the redhead replied, without showing an inch of concern. Henry stood by her side, looking surprised by his mother's reaction.

The three of them were now a couple of feet away from the bar, standing on the sidewalk. Emma seemed to be biting back the response to that final taunt; it if weren't for Henry, she would probably be back at the other woman's neck.

"Henry… what did I tell you about talking to strangers?" she said, raising an eyebrow and kneeling in front of the boy to look at his face.

Henry looked as if he was trying to remember when they'd had that conversation, and Emma suddenly realized that she probably hadn't told him anything on that particular matter.

"Well, never mind that…" she whispered, pretending to be arranging his hair, when she really just wanted to touch him. The stupid fight with the other woman had been a nice distraction for a few moments, but now the seriousness of what was happening was finally getting to her. She had to tell Henry the truth, but how? What if he hated her for lying about his father? She just couldn't lose her son… not now. _Not again_. "Just don't leave my side again, ok?"

Before the boy could answer, the bar door banged open and Neal stomped out of the building, his face a mess of tears, frustration and anger. He walked straight past the trio and only stopped walking when he had reached the middle of the block.

At that moment, Emma hated herself for the urge she felt to go and comfort him… She hated how her heart hurt at his pain, how her mind raced when he was near her. She wasn't supposed to care, not after everything he had done to her. And the memories of what he had done hurt like hell.

"Is that Mr. Gold's son?" Henry asked.

_Mr. Gold's son_. Those words echoed in her head and she felt like screaming. It was too much to handle.

"Yeah, kid," she rose to her feet, feeling drained by the amount of surprises she had had so far. She wanted to switch off her mind and stop processing all that information that was cutting past her skin like knives. "I guess he is."

* * *

As Rumplestiltskin walked out of the bar, he looked every single year of his three centuries of age. He felt mentally and physically exhausted, as if those minutes of confrontation had been much more than a hostile reunion. He felt he had just fought in a war, and lost.

After a quick scan of his whereabouts, he located Emma kneeling in front of Henry, and one or two meters away from them stood Tinkerbell and his son. He leaned against the bar door, clutching his cane for a brief moment and hoping his knee wouldn't falter on the short walk he was about to take.

As he approached, Emma lifted her eyes from Henry's face and looked at him. She seemed to be about to open her mouth to say something, but whatever it was she had planned to say probably got lost somewhere between her brain and her mouth.

She was not the only one at a loss for words, as he suddenly found himself speechless while looking at Henry. He felt a streak of anger and self-loathe rush through his veins when he acknowledged how cruelly ironic it was that he ended up handing his own grandson to Regina, and that his delusional pupil had raised the kid instead of him.

"You look sad, Mr. Gold. Aren't you happy you found your son?" Henry asked, and both Emma and the older man flinched at his question. _There was so much that boy had to know…_

But now was just not the time.

* * *

"Candy?"

Neal had barely noticed Tinkerbell standing by his side on the sidewalk, holding out a bag of Skittles.

"I have a son," he said, still unable to fully realize what that meant. Maybe it was better this way; there's only so much one can take in such short period of time.

"You have a son," said the redhead.

"Yeah."

"And a father."

"Yeah."

"So… What now?"

Neal had no idea. To think he had been debating on whether or not he was ready to meet Emma and tell her the truth, even if that meant facing his father again… Now he had to figure out how to be a father, as well as doing those other two things.

He didn't even know where to start.

"I don't know if I can do this," he said, as he finally took the bag of candy from Tinkerbell's hands.

"Well… we just can't hang around in Manhattan while you figure things out, can we?" she asked, patting him on the shoulder and then walking towards the rest of the group. "We have to go."

* * *

"There is _no way_ she's coming with us," said Emma.

"There is no way you're taking _my car_ if I'm not going. I've just filled the tank," replied Tinkerbell.

"We can rent a car, we don't need yours."

"Why rent a car if we can use hers?" Neal asked Emma, just to be given the dirtiest look ever.

"Fine. No cars, then. Taxis, and then we head to the airport," said the blonde.

"Not airports again…" Mr. Gold mumbled.

"What is your plan, love? Have you brought a magic carpet? Fairy dust? Perhaps your own flying broom?" teased the fairy.

And then there was silence. No one made jokes about Mr. Gold, a.k.a. Rumplestiltskin, and lived to tell the tale. Henry, however, couldn't help but giggle.

Meanwhile, Mr. Gold kept staring at Tinkerbell, hoping the curses he was mentally casting would turn her into dust.

"Look, Emma, you can drive my car if you want to. I don't m-"

"If anyone will drive, that will be me," interrupted Mr. Gold.

"Sure it will," Emma retorted. "Because you've taken the I-95 many times in your life, I take it."

Once again, everybody fell silent.

"I'm sorry, I-",

"Ok. You drive, then," Mr. Gold replied. He was way too tired for those little games. "Shall we go?"

"Are we all going in the same car?" Neal's voice contained a mixture of panic and joy.

"What is the problem if we do?" Henry asked, way too excited for his first road trip.

"The more the merrier, I think," said Tinkerbell.

"No one asked for your opinion," retorted Emma. "Henry, get into the car."

"But-"

"Henry, please."

Emma's voice was firm. As soon as the kid took his place at the back seat of the brand new Veracruz, she took that opportunity to address all other passengers.

"It's going to be a hell of a long trip. If any of you can't keep your mouth shut about what happened here tonight, then _don't go in_. I don't want to hear a word about it until we get to Storybrooke, do you get that?"

All of them looked at each other for a brief second, and no word was spoken as they entered the car.


	9. Chapter 9: The trip back home

A/N: Thanks everyone for reading, reviewing and following! I'll be back tomorrow with another chapter, probably two, now in Storybrooke.

* * *

**_Chapter 9: The trip back home_**

Except for Henry, all the passengers in the crystalline blue pearl vehicle looked like they either had just left a funeral, or were heading to one.

Every now and then, Emma would glance at the rear-view mirror suspiciously, uncomfortable with the fact her son was sitting next to a complete stranger that she absolutely despised. _'Well, it would be worse if he was sitting next to Neal… Whatever,'_ she thought, tapping the steering wheel and letting out a defeated sigh. She couldn't believe she was actually taking Neal to Storybrooke. What was next? _Introducing him to her parents?_ What a nightmare…

_'Eyes on the road…'_ Neal mentally repeated to himself every time Emma's eyes lingered on Tinkerbell. He felt like he was on the verge of breaking into a fit of delusional laughter, given the impossibility of that scenario: he knew his father was looking at him from the rear-view mirror, but refused to meet his eyes; his new found son was a seat away from him and he had just realized he hadn't even brought an extra change of clothes with him. As a matter of fact, had he locked his apartment door before heading out to the bar? He needed to call Elaine. Would cell phones work where he was going? Oh, _wait,_ he no longer had a cell phone…

Completely unaware of Neal's futile attempts to keep his sanity, Tinkerbell wondered what Storybrooke looked like. _'Boring, I bet,'_ she answered silently, wondering what else Blue had pulled off in the little town. Because she knew, of course, that Reul Ghorm danced to her own tune, and laughed at Rumplesbabe and the Evil Drama Queen for not realizing it. Though that worried her… what if she refused to help her get back to Neverland? _Did Neverland still exist,_ after all the years she spent away, locked in a land with no magic?

Rumplestiltskin hated it all. He hated the fact he was not driving, he hated the fact they were taking Tinkerbell with them, he hated the fact he had procured his own grandson to Regina, he hated the fact his own son hated him. He thought about Belle… and then he hated himself for not being able to bring her memories back. It was all Hook's fault… Oh,_ how he hated Hook!_ And Cora. And that stupid Blue Fairy and her stupid magic beans…

Henry Mills, on the very other hand, was finding the whole road trip rather entertaining. The silence was surely a bummer, but they had managed to find Mr. Gold's son and were taking him back to Storybrooke, _and that was exciting_. What was everybody going to say? He couldn't wait to see what powers Neal had. And what about _her_? She knew Mr. Gold and she was going with them, so she had to know something about magic.

He looked at the woman sitting by his side and spent a long minute trying to understand her.

"What fairytale are you from?" he asked, unable to contain himself. He had already gone through a list of possibilities, but none of them seemed a perfect fit for the redhead.

Then, all of a sudden, all eyes were on the middle occupant of the back seat.

"Take a stab," said Tinkerbell, staring into the rear-view mirror and finding Emma's tense expression very amusing.

"Are you a princess?" Henry asked.

"Not by a long shot," she replied. "Try again."

"Come on, give me a hint!"

"OK. Have you ever heard of Captain Hook?"

The fairy's last words were followed by a very audible Mr. Gold clearing his throat before throwing her a poisonous look. Emma had also raised her eyebrows and glanced at the other woman with even more contempt.

"Eyes on the road…" Neal whispered.

"Oh, shut up," Emma responded, though now she was staring ahead, determined not to let anything distract her again.

"Hey, Henry," said Tinkerbell, trying to change the subject. "Do you know the "Humming Game"?

"Nops."

"Simple. I hum a song and you try to guess. Then you hum a song and I try to guess. Wanna play?"

"Sure," the boy answered.

"Ok, so I start. I'll give you an easy one," said the fairy before humming the first song.

"Jingle Bells!" Henry exclaimed.

"Now that was fast!" she responded. "Nealfire, your turn."

"_Nealfire_? Is that your name?" the boy asked, looking surprised.

"No, it isn't, Henry," Neal responded, blushing. He was fully aware that two pairs of eyes were now stabbing him from the rear-view mirror. "It's just that someone is feeling funny today… _as usual_."

"Come on already. Hum your song!" exclaimed the fairy, encouraged by a very anxious Henry.

"OK, OK, fine… Here goes," said Neal, as he hummed what he thought was "Mary Had a Little Lamb".

"Hmm… Is that "Silent Night?", asked Henry.

"Nope."

"Pretty Little Dutch Girl," tried Tinkerbell.

"Pret-What? No!" Neal answered, now humming his song with a certain hesitation.

"Home for the holidays?"

"Ten Little Indians!"

"No. No! Jesus! Am I really that bad?" said Neal, laughing.

"Yes!" Henry and Tinkerbell answered in unison, before they too burst into laughter. "What was the song, anyway?" the boy asked.

"Mary Had a Little Lamb."

"What? No way!" exclaimed the fairy. "No way it was Mary Had a Little Lamb!"

"Well, I was humming the gospel version…"

Still giggling, Tinkerbell punched Neal on the shoulder, which made Henry laugh even louder. Such gesture, however, had not gone unnoticed by Emma Swan, who took it as her leave to turn on the radio in an attempt to put an end to that silly party.

_"She dried up in the desert/ Drowned in a hot tub/ Danced to death at an east side night club/ Help me, help me, I'm all out of lies!"_

For one moment, everybody was silent. Tinkerbell scratched her nose and sighed, while Henry looked out of the window. Neal found himself gazing at the boy and, unexplainably, he felt proud that he had turned out to be such a great kid. _It was really happening…_ He was a father, and even though he had only known Henry for a few hours, the little guy was already part of his world.

"Wait, I know, I know", Neal exclaimed, pointing at the radio and leaning against the driver's seat. "Don't say it, I know that one… _"She was caught in a mudslide, eaten by a lion…_"50 ways to say goodbye!", he shouted, and the backseat trio once gain burst into a fit of laughter.

"Nice comeback," said Tinkerbell, wiping her teary eyes. "OK. It's your turn, Henry."

Just then, Emma Swan stepped on the brakes.

"Why are we stopping?" asked Rumplestiltskin, who definitely didn't need that excruciating trip to be any longer.

"We need gas," she answered.

"No, we d-"

"Neal, a word?" Emma continued, before Tinkerbell could finish her sentence.

The two of them stepped out of the car and headed towards the convenience store at the far edge of the gas station, to ensure they were out of hearing distance.

"What do you think you're doing?" Emma asked, putting her hands on her pockets and avoiding Neal's eyes.

"Having fun," he answered, although that was not completely true. He was in no mood for games of any kind, and had just agreed to take part because… well, because he wanted Henry to have a good time. Or, if that was too much to ask given the bizarre circumstances of that trip, then he wanted the kid to have a less miserable time than the others.

"At least one of us is," she snorted, still looking away. "We had agreed you wouldn't talk to him before we got to Storybrooke!"

"We had agreed I wouldn't tell him _who I was_ before we got to Storybrooke," Neal replied.

"Bullshit! Think I don't know what you're trying to do?"

"Oh, right. What I am trying to do?"

"Don't turn this against me. I won't let you make friends with my son just to walk out on him like you did with me!"

"Oh come on," it was Neal's turn to look away, as he passed his hands over his hair and tried not to show how much that comment had stung. Though it was easy to understand why she thought he was not worthy of her trust, it was not fair to assume he would be a lousy father. It made him even angrier not to be able to tell Emma he had never walked out on her of his own accord, to start with.

"Just stay away from Henry," she said at last, making sure to stress every word.

"_Fine!_ Sorry for putting his happiness first," he snapped, immediately wishing he hadn't.

"How dare you…" Emma looked at him for the first time, and the hurt in her eyes made him want to beat himself for talking to her like that.

"Emma… Emma, I'm sorry. That just came out wrong. I'm sorry."

"What do you know ab-"

"Hey Emma," both of them were so caught up in the heat of the moment that neither had noticed Henry approaching. "Can I get something to eat? I'm hungry."

"Sure," she said, still looking lost. "Let's go…"

As the two of them moved towards the door, Neal saw Henry turn his head and blink, and couldn't help but smile in gratitude. The boy had saved him from an argument that would obviously blow up on his face, and that little blink made a very clear statement that he had done it on purpose.

Suddenly, he got a very distinct feeling that the boy knew much more than he was letting out.


	10. Chapter 10: No time for explanations

**_Chapter 10: No time for explanations_**

Much to Emma's dismay, every time one of the games the three people on the backseat were playing came to a halt, it was quickly replaced by another. The conversation in between basically consisted of Henry asking if the other woman knew any other games, and then she telling him she knew all the games in the world.

_The arrogant bimbo_.

In the hours that followed, Emma hadn't bothered to ask her name, though the fact she mentioned Hook certainly complicated things. And Gold seemed to know her. She hated to admit it, but that stranger might really come from Fairytale Land, after all – a possibility she wouldn't have embraced so quickly a few hours ago.

Now, everything seemed dangerously possible.

But then, hopefully, the woman was only bluffing, and as soon as they reached Storybrooke, whoever Ms. Game Queen was would take her car and be in her merry way back to Manhattan. Things were bad enough without her being around to crack her stupid jokes…

"Finally…"

It was Rumplestiltskin who voiced the word that was on everyone else's mind. For good or for the bad, that was the moment all the occupants of the blue Veracruz were looking forward to.

Except, maybe, for Emma Swan. She clutched the steering wheel, and for a split second considered the idea of speeding the opposite direction. She had to tell Henry the truth now, and she felt sick. What if he hated her for lying about his father? Maybe he wouldn't. He seemed happy with Neal, after all. Oh, what was she thinking? Of course the kid would be devastated. She had told him his father was dead, and now this…

One by one, the passengers of the vehicle left the car, leaving Emma alone with her thoughts. She saw Neal go past her door, and felt her eyes prickle. As if that was not enough, telling Henry the truth would inevitably take her back to that night when everything went so awfully wrong… A night she had struggled to forget, but never actually managed to.

_ 'Just get this over and done with…'_ she thought, as she closed her eyes and got out of the car.

"OK," Emma said at last, walking towards the other woman to hand her the car keys. "We don't need your car anymore."

"Indeed we don't!" Tinkerbell replied with the unmistakable sound of someone who is delighted with oneself. "I wonder what we should do with it now…"

She showed no sign she was going back to Manhattan, after all.

"Great. Just great…" whispered Emma, moving near Neal. "Look, I don't know what kind of holidays you and your girlfriend think you're going to have here, but I guarantee this is not the right time," she whispered in his ear, not even trying to hide her irritation. "So just m-"

"Wait, wait… _What?_"an astounded Neal had turned around to look at her. "Girlfriend, she's n-"

"I think it's time I introduced myself properly," said the fairy, clearing her throat in order to get everyone's attention. "Tinkerbell, at your service," she announced at last, rolling her 'r's and bowing extravagantly.

"Wow!" exclaimed Henry. "I knew it!"

Rumplestiltskin just rolled his eyes and waited. He didn't really know what he was waiting for, however; it just didn't feel right to turn his back on Baelfire and head home without his son. Then, again, he was not sure he should count on the other man to take kindly to the idea of joining his father for tea in order to catch up with the last events in each other's lives.

"Tinkerbell?" Emma asked, not showing any signs of excitement. "As in, _'kill Wendy because she's a bird'_ Tinkerbell?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "Lovely."

"You see, that's not exactly what happened," Tinkerbell responded, shrugging and wrinkling her nose. " But… that's what made to the news, so I don't blame you, really. It's an honest mistake."

"I'm glad you don't…" Emma said, feeling her ears pounding with anger as she walked away. "Tinkerbell, huh?" she whispered in Neal's ear again, her voice loaded with sarcasm. "Nice catch."

He raised both eyebrows at her words.

"What? Emma, you have to be kidding, right? I mean, no!" Neal answered as he followed the group into town. "You, say something!"

"I guess I could, but this is way too funny," Tinkerbell replied, with the same amused look she had in her face when their trip started.

"Emma!"

When the blond woman looked up, she saw her parents running towards her. She had never been so happy to see them before, and felt as if a ton had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Oh thank God you're back!" said Snow, as she hugged her daughter.

"Who are these people?" asked Charming, resting a hand over Henry's shoulder and giving it a protective squeeze. "Is that your son?"

"What do you think, Charming?" answered an exhausted Rumplestiltskin. "You and your stupid questions, really…"

"Hey now!" Emma intervened. "Don't you call my father stupid!"

"Your _father_?" asked Neal as he looked at David, who seemed to be beaming after Emma's words. "Seriously?"

"And I'm Emma's mother," said Snow as she outstretched her arm for a handshake, smiling. "Mary Margaret. But you can call me Snow. _White_. I know it's confusing…"

"Not at all…" muttered Neal, unable to hide his confusion. "I'm Neal Cassidy. But you can call me… _Bae_."

It was Rumplestiltiskin's turn to beam.

"Though I'd really prefer you didn't," Neal completed, barely noticing how his father's morale seemed to have deflated with that comment.

"Well, then… Welcome to Storybrooke, Neal" said Snow. "I know-"

"Guys!" screamed Ruby, as she ran towards the group. "You need to come, Hook is out of his mind!" she said, slightly out of breath. Only then did she notice Neal and Tinkerbell behind her friends. "Oh. Hi! Please tell me you didn't get here by accident…"

"You said Hook is giving you grief?" asked the redhead, whose eyes seemed to be burning with excitement. "Take me to him, I think I can help."

"That's the thing, I'm not sure we should," Ruby continued, looking from Tinkerbell to Snow and the others. "Everything is kind of fishy, really. He just walked into Granny's, drunk as a skunk, and took Granny hostage. Sounds like a lousy move, really, it doesn't make any sense!"

"Of course it doesn't…" said Emma, as she looked around for Gold, who was already marching towards his store. "It doesn't, because it's just a distraction. He's plotting against Gold again… and this time he may have company."

She looked at her parents, who knew exactly who they were talking about. Neal, however, didn't, and felt like he was the only one who was about to make a fool of himself.

"Ruby, can you take care of Henry?" Emma said, somehow relieved for the extra time she was getting.

When the boy and Ruby walked towards the library, the whole group took off, leaving Neal behind._ 'Well, yeah, why should anyone explain anything?'_ he thought, as he too ran to catch up with the crowd. There would be time for explanations… And there were _many_ to be given.


	11. Ch11: Sometimes you can't make it

_**A/N: Again, let me thank you all for your wonderful response to this fic. As you can see, I've been trying to post at least one new chapter per day, so that we can all cope with the week separating us from "Manhattan", lol. This particular chapter was a surprise, since it developed a life of its own and went down a road I was not expecting. It is chaotic, and maybe because of that, it was a lot of fun to write. However, I have to say that from now on things will get (slightly) more serious, so brace yourself for some angst especially after chapter 15!**_

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_**Chapter 11: Sometimes you can't make it on your own**_

"We have to get in through the back door," hissed Mr. Gold, as he and the group spotted Regina and Cora standing in front of the pawn shop.

"Sounds great, but _how_?" asked Emma, as she sneaked a look over Gold's shoulder. "It's not as if they wouldn't notice half a dozen people crossing the street!"

"I can distract them," whispered David, glued to one of the walls of Purbeck Shoe Store.

"By getting killed?" said Tinkerbell, who was crouching next to Snow. "Too dramatic, don't you think?"

"Hey…" David responded, blushing slightly. "It wouldn't be the first time I faced Regina."

"Charming, she is right," said Snow. "It's different now. She is with Cora."

"Yes, Regina is with Cora. I'm glad we are all on the same page now!" Mr. Gold hissed again. He hated to admit that ever since the incident at the airport, he had been worried sick about how much venturing outside Storybrooke had affected his ability to perform magic, and a showdown with the two women was the last thing he needed.

"Can't you do something?" Charming asked Rumplestiltskin. "If you don't mind me saying that, right now would be as good a time as any to use magic."

The older man stared blankly into the street ahead. He could feel Baelfire's eyes on the back of his neck, and realized that the fear of embarrassing himself in front of everybody in case he failed to conjure a spell was actually the smallest of his concerns. If he failed, _that was it._ He would be over, and so would _all_ of them.

"Just make sure you reach the back room and guard it with your life, otherwise…" he said at last, throwing Charming and the others a menacing look.

"How very uncivilized!" he yelled, as he approached Regina and Cora. "Trying to break into my shop at broad daylight."

"I'll handle him," Cora told Regina, with a sneer forming on her lips. "You keep going, darling."

"What is he doing?" asked Snow, as Rumplestiltskin limped towards the store.

"Giving us a chance," muttered Emma. "I wonder what it is he has in that damn store."

"I think I know," whispered Neal._ 'Even mutes can draw a picture,'_ he heard in his head, and had to shake it before that nightmare engulfed him again. "Tell me, in a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being really evil, how bad are those two ladies?"

"I'd say 10, individually," answered Snow.

"Then we have to go in," he responded, drawing in a long breath as he prepared to run. "Wait… Where's Tinkerbell?" he asked, looking around.

The others did the same, and Emma was the only one who seemed positively happy.

"Well, now that's-" she started saying, with a triumphant look of disdain in her eyes, just to be interrupted by a blue Veracruz turning into the far end of the street and approaching the group.

"Get in and fasten your seatbelts, folks," whispered Tinkerbell, as she slowly pulled over. "You're in for a tough ride."

"Brilliant!" said Neal, with a fascinated smile splattered across his face as he took the passenger seat next to the driver. Emma, on the other hand, looked outraged as she silently got onto the backseat along with her parents.

"Are you sure this is g-"

Snow didn't have time to finish her sentence. The fairy had already smashed the gas pedal to the floor and was flying towards the entrance of the pawn shop.

"OH MY GOD!" screamed David, clutching the grab handle.

"Are you INSANE?" Emma yelled as well. "What the HELL are you DOING?"

In a matter of seconds, the three individuals who had engaged in a heated argument in front of the pawn shop had to jump to get out of the vehicle's way. When Rumplestiltskin finally managed to get to his feet again, words failed him as he saw the Veracruz parked in the middle of his store.

"What has just happened?" asked David, still clutching the grab handle and looking around the semi-destroyed pawn shop out of his window.

"I thought we were coming in through the back door," whispered Neal, as debris fell on top of the windshield.

"Change of plans," Tinkerbell said simply, jumping out of the vehicle and pulling out her sword. "I'm throwing my hat in that ring, ladies."

"Now, Rumple, I didn't know you were going to bring the circus with you," said Regina, as she saw the Charmings get out of the vehicle. She cast a dirty look upon the redhead who now moved towards her, and prepared to attack. "Though I probably should thank _you_ for making our lives easier, _stranger_."

"_Stranger?_" the fairy repeated, rolling her sword, defiantly. "Oh, Regina. Ignorance is such a blessing."

The other woman quickly responded to that taunt by conjuring a ball of fire, which was deflected by the fairy with a swift movement of the blade.

"Come on," Neal said to the rest of the group, as soon as he realized the two intruders were now engaged in battle.

"Come on _where_?" asked Emma, as she searched around for something that could be used as a weapon. "What are we looking for?"

"A dagger," he whispered. "Try looking behind paintings, under rugs, inside statues, whatever. It must be somewhere hard to find."

"Wait," said Snow. "If Rumplestiltskin really doesn't want it to be found, then it must be protected by magic, right?"

Her words were followed by the most excruciating silence.

"Maybe not," Emma answered. "Maybe he used some kind of code… Password, I don't know. Maybe we can figure it out!"

"I take it you're looking for this?"

They all turned around at the same time to look at Hook, who was holding the Dark One's Dagger and eyeing it with a concocted casual expression.

Neal got the feeling his face was familiar, but he was sure he would remember a man with a hook for a hand if he had ever met one before... Still, he couldn't get past the impression that man meant trouble on a whole different level. The fact he could now control the Dark One added to it.

"You!" exclaimed Emma, as she gazed at the other man in disbelief. "_How?_"

"I used the back door, sweetheart. Now tell me…" Hook said as he approached her, using the dagger to bring a strand of her hair close to his lips. "Did you miss me, Swan? _Don't lie_…" he whispered in her ear, holding her waist from behind. "I know you did."

Before he knew exactly what he was doing, Neal had pulled the sword from Charming's belt and now had its tip pressed against Hook's throat.

"Stay the hell away from her," he hissed. His whole body irradiated waves of the deepest fury.

"Oh, someone is feeling brave," answered Hook, sniggering. "You must be the Crocodile's son. Do you happen to forget that I can get your father to kill everyone in this room with a simple word?"

"You can't if you're dead," Neal replied. He had never been that serious in his entire life.

"If you think you can actually kill me, you're welcome to try," the other man answered, pushing Emma out of the way and pulling out his own sword after sheathing the dagger.

As the two men engaged in battle, Emma couldn't help but notice Neal was a hell of a swordsman. Where exactly in Manhattan he had developed such skills was still a mystery to her.

"Emma, watch out!" Snow screamed, as a blinding jet of light had been conjured towards her daughter. Tinkerbell was now helping Rumplestiltskin fight Cora, which meant Regina was free to pursue other contenders.

"Regina!" Emma screamed, after ducking her curse by an inch. "What is wrong with you?"

"What is wrong with me, Ms Swan, is you!" the woman yelled back. "You and your whole stupid family!"

Neal looked at the two of them for a moment, and that was all Hook needed to send his sword flying in the air. After dodging a couple of blows, Neal was able to throw the other man to the ground, but in an unlucky turn of events, ended up pinned against the floor, with Hook's delusional laughter hovering an inch above his face.

"Looks like this game is over, Bae" Hook said, raising his hook for a final and fatal attack.

"No, it's not."

As Hook turned around to see whose voice was that, he was greeted with the impact of a crystal ball smashing against his face.

"Never actually thought those things worked", said Tinkerbell, as she wiped the dust from her hands. "Now I see I was wrong."

She outstretched her hand to help Neal stand up. When he did, he looked around and saw his father breathing deeply sitting next to David at a corner of the store, and Mary Margaret helping her daughter get back to her feet. All of them had cuts and bruises and were covered in dust and pieces of cement and wood.

"Where did they go?" he asked, nearly tripping over Hook's limp body.

"No idea," Tinkerbell answered. "For now, let's say they're _gone_."

"Where is the dagger?" Emma asked, her eyes wide with alarm.

"You mean _this one_?" Neal said, as he let the knife slide down his sleeve.

She let out a sigh and had to struggle not to smile. If there was a thing that she knew, and so did he, was that there are things you learn as a thief that you never actually forget.


	12. Chapter 12: Thicker than water

_**Chapter 12: Thicker than water**_

The reason why Tinkerbell had insisted they all headed to Sisters of Saint Melissa Convent before they had the opportunity to rest for a few minutes, get a shower, a decent meal, a strong drink and a clean change of clothes was not clear to Neal. As a matter of fact, it didn't seem clear to any of his travel companions, except for the fairy herself and Rumplestiltskin, who once again seemed on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Every time Neal took a look at his father, he could see the old man had been about to say something several times, but changed his mind in all of them. The expression on his face reminded him of that night… when they had agreed to use the bean to go to a land without magic, and his father had joined him, with that same conflicted look in his eyes, just to let go of his hand in the last minute…

Neal stopped dead in his tracks when a familiar face greeted them at the gate of the convent.

"Bae," said Mother Superior. "You've made it."

_'It's happening again,' _he thought.

"Reul Ghorm," he whispered, feeling he was about to fall into that green vortex one more time.

An infuriated Rumplestiltskin had to be stopped by Tinkerbell, before he threw himself over the other fairy and strangled her with his bare hands.

"It's good to see you too," replied the Blue Fairy, fully aware that neither of the two men had reasons to be happy to see her. She then turned to greet the others. "Emma, Charming, Snow. Please come in."

As each one of them slowly made their way to the round table Mother Superior had set in the patio, Neal kept staring at his feet, unwilling to let any other eyes meet his own. He didn't want anyone else to see how miserable he was feeling, let alone his father. Or Emma. Or his in-laws.

_'This is all so fucked-up,'_ he thought, as he took his seat far from the others, craving to be left alone in his own thoughts. He could hear Tinkerbell whispering something to the other fairy as they slowly joined the group, and then a chair being pulled by his side.

"Bell, if you don't mind, I'd-" he started saying. Much as the fairy was probably just trying to make him feel better, he really wanted to be alone.

"Sorry to disappoint you," Emma said.

She saw him lifting his eyes from the table to look at her, and her heart skipped a beat._ He looked so sad._ She forced her eyes away before she did something stupid, like holding his hand and telling him that everything would be alright. Even because it wouldn't. They would _never_ be alright again.

Emma drew in a long breath. She hated the fact she needed to have that conversation with Neal. It would be so much easier if each of them had gone their own separate ways… if they had never met each other again. Then Henry could go on thinking his dad had died a hero and not that he was some deadbeat who had let her to go to jail while expecting his child.

For so many years, she had craved an explanation… She had waited for him to show up and tell her how the hell he could have let her take the fall that night. Then she could get some closure. She could finally forget him and get on with her life.

And now that he was here, now that she had the chance to hear and tell everything, she was _so not ready_. And he was Mr. Gold's son. She didn't even want to think about it, it was way too much to handle.

"Thank you all for coming," said the Blue Fairy, with Tinkerbell by her side.

"Not that we had any choice…" growled Rumplestiltskin, as he looked at his son sitting next to Emma Swan. To see how absolutely unhappy the young man looked made him feel much older and angrier at himself.

"We always have a choice, Rumplestiltskin" she replied, "And we can always make the wrong one. You, of all people, should know that."

Her voice remained as serene as it had always been, but her eyes burned with intensity. By her side, Tinkerbell smiled, shaking her head and muttering something that the others could not hear, but that made the Blue Fairy frown and whisper something in return.

"You know what? You're right," Rumplestiltskin answered, in a mocking tone, his eyes glowing with threat. "And right now, I choose to leave," he said at last, getting to his feet and walking away.

"Oh, for crying out loud. Just sit and get this over and done with."

If those words had come from anyone else, including even Ms. Swan, he wouldn't have bothered. But how would he ignore his own son's plead? He clutched his cane and let out a sigh before turning back on his heels and taking his seat, hoping that excruciatingly long day would soon come to an end.

Neal kept staring at the table, not really caring whether his father was to attend the meeting or not. It was bad enough as it was, with the Blue Fairy reminding him that his own father had chosen power over him. In fact, he wished the other man would leave, not only the meeting, but _his life_, or whatever had been left of it. On the other hand, he feared Rumplestiltskin's presence in the _petit comite _was mandatory, and the mutual contempt between the fairies and the Dark One was not going to help.

"The reason I called you here with such urgency is because war is impending, as you might have realized from today's events," the fairy announced. "My sources tell me that Cora has been planning to recruit an army and if she ever gets the dagger, she will start forming allegiances with other magical entities from outer realms as well. That would bring everything we know, and love, to an end worse than the one inflicted upon us by the curse."

"So what are we supposed to do?" asked Charming, as he held Snow's hand under his.

"First, destroy the dagger," Tinkerbell replied, sneering.

"Indeed the dagger needs to be destroyed, but it is nowhere as easy as it seems," said the Blue Fairy, casting the other fairy a sideways glance of disapproval. "So right now, our main concern should be to protect it."

"Fine," Neal said, as he took the dagger and threw it onto the center of the table, gathering surprised looks from all the other participants. "You go ahead and do it. I'm out."

It was his turn to stand and walk away.

"Baelfire, listen!" The Blue Fairy exclaimed, but the man kept walking towards the gate. "No one is safe if we don't work together. Think of your son!"

Emma gasped, and her fingers dug into the wooden surface of the table until her knuckles were white.

"What? Is your son here as well?" asked Snow, turning to look at Neal, who at that moment stopped walking.

"Yeah. Are we missing something?" Charming asked as well, looking at Rumplestiltskin, who seemed horrified. "Do you have a grandson in Storybrooke?"

"Stop!" Emma choked.

"Who is he?" asked Snow, now looking at the older man.

"STOP!" Emma screamed, her lip trembling. Adrenaline rushed through her veins as she also stood up and felt the urge to run. "Please, stop", she repeated, as her chest heaved with the effort of breathing.

"Emma?" Snow asked, standing up to hold her daughter's hands in hers. "Emma, what's-?" She looked at Charming's clueless face, then back at Emma's, which was now covered in tears, then at Rumplestiltskin still paralyzed, and Neal still facing the gate. "Oh Emma!" she said at last, finally figuring it all out and holding her daughter in a tight embrace.

"What?" asked David, also standing to his feet and looking positively panicked. "What is going on?" he asked, looking at the fairies and hoping they would clue him in.

"_Do you have a grandson in Storybrooke_, Charming?" asked Tinkerbell, echoing the man's earlier question.

"Yes, I do, Hen-"

He stopped mid sentence, with his mouth agape as he whipped his head towards Rumplestiltskin.

"No!"

"Yes," whispered Snow, reaching out for her husband and mentally begging him to be quiet. She was not sure Emma could handle any other comment on that situation.

Neal felt he no longer had a heart. It had burst out of his chest with the fairy's words, and then it had broken into a million pieces with Emma's painful sobs._Reul Ghorm knew Henry was his son._ She knew Emma was pregnant with his child when he left her. So did Tinkerbell, then. Of course, now everything fell into place. Though August had always been evasive in his answers and explanations, he knew there had to be a mastermind behind it all.

He felt he was going to vomit.

"I'll stay," he said, trying to turn all his unhappiness into hatred towards fairies, magic and everything else that came with it. "As long as you tell everyone here what happened 11 years ago."

When he turned his head around to face the Blue Fairy, his eyes were those of a man who wanted to kill – and _be killed_.


	13. Chapter 13: How it all came to be

_**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews and encouraging comments! It makes me truly happy to see you're enjoying this ride as much as I am! That said, I would like to apologize for this excruciatingly long chapter; unlike the others, it has very little dialogue and/or action, which can make it even harder to read. However, I felt it ended up answering a lot of questions that would otherwise just be left up in the air, so please bear with me! I promise to reward your resilience with some nice surprises in the next chapters!**_

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**_Chapter 13: How it all came to be_**

_Perhaps she should retire._

Now that was something that, as a rule, fairies couldn't do. But she was the Original Power, after all, and that meant _she_ could if she_ wanted_ to. She had done her part: good had prevailed in all the wars she had been in, happiness had come to a fair amount of couples in love and Fairy Tale Land, despite all its ups and downs, remained the most beautiful and dreamlike of all realms.

She could really do with a break._ An eternal one_, at that.

Reul Ghorm made sure her eyes never left Baelfire's. _Poor child._ A part of her really wanted to wave her wand and make all the sad memories that boy carried with him disappear in a cloud of magic. But she knew better. She had made that mistake before.

He wanted to know the truth, so he would know the truth. And he would live.

In the meantime, Rumplestiltskin had picked up the dagger and was now approaching her with a deranged look in his eyes.

"Do you really think you can kill me with that?" she said calmly, as the man attempted to plunge the dagger into her heart, just to find out it couldn't go past her skin. "I'll answer all of your questions as soon as you all sit and calm yourselves down."

She raised her eyes to glance at the Dark One with a mixture of contempt and pity, which only seemed to enrage him more. A cursed man, indeed, but with blessings worth living for. Unfortunately, she knew that destroying that evil knife would end up_ destroying Rumplestiltskin as well_, and although she didn't hold any particular affection for that man after everything he had done, to see father and son reunite just to have death separate them again sounded like an unnecessary layer of cruelty to their already twisted story.

But then, layers of cruelty had been added to many other people's lives before, all in the name of the greater good. That was the logic of magic, one she had always followed: if one has to suffer for the benefit of all, _then be it._ For every couple that lived happily ever after, there was at least one other person that had fought for love and lost. Battlefields had always been covered with the blood of martyrs so that war could be won. Fairy Tale Land itself was not a land of perfection either: it was other people's misfortune that had afforded many of its famous happy endings.

If she had ever cared for individualities, then nothing would have been accomplished. That was the way things had always been done, and _maybe that was why it should be done differently this time_.

She studied Emma Swan's face for a second, and then her parents'. Things were not the way they used to be anymore. That curse had changed it all: not only their memories, but their beliefs, their desires, their bonds, their identities. Older rules and schemes no longer worked.

It was time to rely on humans again, and that meant they would not destroy any dagger - _or any person,_ for that matter - anytime soon.

"Snow White, do you remember the magic wardrobe?" she asked. "The one that took Emma away?"

"Of course I remember!" the woman responded. "But I don't understand…What does it have to do with any of this?"

"Everything," the fairy answered. "It is precisely where it all began: with the magic wardrobe that Geppetto carved from an enchanted tree.

"What I never told you is that to do so, he had one condition. His son, Pinocchio, should be sent through that portal to escape as well. That is why there was only room for one person, and not two, and that is why Emma ended up taking that trip without you or Charming to look after her.

"Needless to say I was restless about sending the Savior away to be tutored and cared for by a seven year-old boy in a completely strange and hostile land. It was far too much responsibility for young Pinocchio, and far too reckless of me to imagine such burden wouldn't overwhelm him.

"Soon enough, I realized I needed a contention plan. That was when I reached out for Tinkerbell; she was the only fairy of our kind who could actually transit between realms: the one without magic, and Neverland. Her magic would allow her to locate Pinocchio as soon as he crossed the portal, and although she could make an exception and take Emma with her too, we soon realized it would be worthless. Emma would never grow to be 28 years old if she stayed in Neverland.

"I would have to think of something else, but the options were scarce and I had other preparations to engage in before the curse was enacted. I had to find a way to retain my memories, for one thing. But we will get to that later. Soon enough, darkness covered our land and I had no other plan in motion.

"All I can say is that for years on end I was in the dark about the destiny of the two children, until the day that Tinkerbell contacted me again, this time to inform me that she was about to leave to bring a new Lost Boy to Neverland. It was you, Baelfire.

"After that day, I never heard from Tinkerbell again. Only many years later did I realize that it was probably a side effect of your curse, Rumplestiltskin, one that you might not even be aware of. Since you needed Baelfire to remain in a land without magic for you to find him, the boy was magically locked into that world. Hence Tinkerbell being stuck outside as well, unable to travel back to Neverland.

"If she had known _he_ was the reason fairy dust was not doing the trick by the time her first attempts to go to Neverland failed, perhaps she would have returned by herself and left him behind. But either she knew it and chose to stay, or she didn't, and stayed because she thought she had no choice. Either way, I'm glad she was able to look after you, Bae, even with all the limitations. From what I hear, you are quite a swordsman. Would I be correct to assume she was your instructor?

"Still, I now had two problems on my hands. A fairy of the highest caliber was stranded in a land with no magic, and I had no news whatsoever of Pinocchio and Emma. Though I had kept my memories, I could not leave town, so I waited, again.

"Finally, after almost two decades of alarming silence, Pinocchio, or August, as he was now called, found his way back into Storybrooke. I'll spare you the details of his journey, but I will say he had finally located you, Emma, and was able to report your latest activities in detail. He had even done an extra investigation on the side, and brought me a full report on a certain_ Neal Cassidy,_ with all the information on the shady circumstances in which he had been brought into the foster system.

"Oh, Baelfire! All I had to do was cross dates, locations and physical descriptions to find out that Neal Cassidy was the same boy Tinkerbell had set off to rescue that many years ago. I was very sorry to hear how unfortunate your life and Emma's had been. I felt even more sorry because I was about to take a decision that would make you both even more miserable.

"The stakes were awfully high. I couldn't risk having you both settle down and later refuse to come to Storybrooke so that Emma could fulfill her destiny. I knew your back story with magic, and I also knew that Emma had grown up without any reason to believe magic was real. I had to count on Pinocchio to guide Emma through that process, and you, Bae, had to be out of that picture.

"I gave August the picture of your father's dagger, but I never mentioned who you were. I simply told him to show it to you, and you would believe everything he said. You would understand the message. And you did, Baelfire. Not long ago, when August returned to Storybrooke, he told me how painful that night was for you. I salute you for your bravery, for making the right choice, even when it was probably the hardest of your life.

"After that, I had once again to count on August to do his part, but surprisingly enough, the first update I got in months was not from him. It was from Tinkerbell.

"It turned out she hadn't contacted me any earlier because she was running out of fairy dust. I should say by now that the only way she could locate me was by using it. I thought it was remarkable she still had any left after so many years in exile.

"When she told me she had lost track of you, Bae, I was not surprised. It meant that you had left town, as you had agreed to. However, when she reported Emma Swan was in jail and _pregnant_, I once again was faced with a difficult decision to make. Should I call it all off, now that there was a child caught up in those entanglements? Should I send August after you so that you could come back and raise your son?

"I chose not to. A very unpopular decision, I know, but the duty at hand had nothing to do with being popular. It was about getting the curse to be broken, and I would make no concessions. I asked Tinkerbell to bring me the child.

"Once again, I depended on another person's good judgment to advance my plans. She had another element to consider: there was only enough fairy dust for one more trip. It could be another one to Storybrooke for her and the child, or it could be her return to Neverland.

"I honestly thought she would choose Neverland. She didn't.

"Since I now was Mother Superior at the Sisters of Saint Melissa Convent, it was not particularly difficult to arrange for the adoption papers. Of course, I cannot guarantee everything took place in perfectly legal terms, since Tinkerbell had never been known to hang around very law-abiding citizens. What mattered is that months later, she returned with a beautiful baby boy bundled up in her arms, and all of a sudden I knew we were all saved.

"I also knew, however, that if I showed up with a baby in town, Regina would realize there was something out of place. This is where you, Mr. Gold, enter the story. Do you remember our conversation that day? When I told you that a baby had been left at the town's border, and rescued by one of the nuns? Even then, when you were not aware of your Fairy Tale persona, you seemed to dislike nuns and Regina more than anything else, so I had to play my part very carefully. I begged you to find a way to save the baby, even if it meant handing him to Regina.

"I don't know what kind of deal you struck with the mayor, or how you convinced her to adopt the child, or if ironically it was the other way around and you took the baby upon Regina's request. All I know is that Henry found a home, and _precisely because it was Regina's home_, and not anyone else's, he was safe.

"When he was old enough, I decided it was time for him to know the truth. The truth about Storybrooke, the truth about his family, _the truth about himself_. That was when I visited you, Snow, who at that time was Henry's teacher, and gave you the book – the very same book I had written before the curse was enacted, in order to remember our previous lives in the Fairy Tale Land that was. I said the stories could help cheer him up, but I knew that it would do _so much more than that_. Magic was in his blood, and he had been blessed by Tinkerbell on his way here. _He was a believer._

"And that's how he found you, Emma. That's how we all ended up here, today."


	14. Ch14: Some wounds won't heal

_**A/N: **_**_Twelve13, hecatemoondancer, jo, Meresger, sudoku, Baellefires, MusicalLover17 and pinkcrazyness, thanks for your reviews! Honestly, each and every one of them has brought a smile to my face. Thanks for all of those who have been following this story as well; I know I ended up posting this chapter later than I expected, but the good news is that I have already started working on chapter 15, and if everything goes well, it will be posted here before Saturday!_**

* * *

_**Chapter 14: Some wounds won't heal**_

There was a song coming from somewhere in the Convent that seemed to highlight all the awkwardness of that moment. The look on everyone's faces was pretty much the same when the Blue Fairy finished her tale: all of them seemed to be immersed in memories, as scenes from the past unfolded behind their eyes and they took all the new information in, seeing how it fit into their own personal journeys…

No one said a word.

"Thank you, Nova" said Mother Superior, as a compassionate-looking woman approached the group to place a tray with a teapot and cups on the center of the table. "And please, tell Guinevere to practice the harp later, will you?"

The other fairy nodded silently and left, and in a matter of seconds the music had stopped.

"The right choice?" whispered Emma, the first to wake up from the trance. "Letting me go to jail was the right choice? Leaving me in the dark, without knowing what the hell had happened to you... _was the right choice?"_

Neal turned his head to look at her. _'Of course it wasn't'_, he thought, still trying to make sense of everything that he had heard. _It wasn't._ It had made him unhappy for years. It had made _her_ unhappy for years. And had he heard it right? _His son had been raised by the very same maniac who was throwing fire balls at them an hour ago?_

"No," he said simply, wishing he could have elaborated more. His brain was having none of it, however, and all he managed to do was stare at her in silence.

Snow realized that the conversation that was about to take place was a very personal one, and motioned to Charming and the others to follow her to the back of the patio to give her daughter and Neal some privacy.

"But I don't understand," started David, frowning at Mother Superior. "How… _how?_ I mean, your _son_," he turned to look at Rumplestilskin, who was pacing up and down away from the rest of the group. "His son, he was in a land with no magic? How? _When_ did that happen?"

"Oh Charming," answered the Blue Fairy. "This is another very long story, one that I don't feel I should tell, and one that probably neither of them is willing to revisit. All I can tell you is that they were separated much before you were even born, and under extremely dire circumstances."

"Wait," David continued, with a puzzled look on his face. "Are you telling me that Henry's father is actually older than… his grandfather?"

"Older than anyone in Storybrooke," she replied. "Except for Rumplestiltskin himself and us, fairies."

"Older than-" the blue-eyed man had raised his eyebrows and was about to repeat that piece of information to make sure he had gotten it right, but found out he didn't need to. After all the events that had taken place in the last few hours, he was ready to believe _anything_ was possible.

"Henry needs to know," said Snow, looking at her daughter and Neal with an anguished look in her eyes. "We have to tell him the truth, the whole thing, that his father is alive, that Rumplestiltskin is-" she stopped, as if the next two words belonged to an alternative reality that sounded too absurd to be true.

"I don't think he is ready for that," David replied. "I know I wasn't!"

"I have an idea," Snow started talking again, putting one hand over Charming's arm and another on her own chest, trying to calm herself down. "Let's have a dinner. Let's have everyone sit together, as real adults, and let's do this together."

"A dinner?" David asked, disbelief showing in every line of his face. "Snow, I don't think that is a good idea..."

"I know it's not!" she answered, her face once again showing deep signs of concern. "But what choice do we have? Cora is in town, Regina has sided with her, Hook has joined them, and sooner than later we'll be fighting in a war! This might be our last chance to do this, Charming, and Henry deserves to know who his family is while all of us are still alive, because honestly? Only God knows whether everybody around this table will make it."

Her whispered words sounded like a thunder, and made Charming nod in agreement. She was right: they couldn't afford to hold grudges against each other, neither could they wait for old wounds to heal. They had to do it…_ and they had to do it now._

David took a long, deep breath as he approached Rumplestiltskin, barely believing he was about to invite the Dark One for a family dinner. That _had_ to be the most surreal day of his life.

"What?" asked the older man when Charming cleared his throat right next to him. "Are you here to tell me what a terrible father I am, Charming?" he sneered, putting up his most arrogant façade. "Shall I remind you that you are not doing that much of a great job as a parent either?"

"Well, no, that's not what I was going to say," David responded, somewhat prepared for the usual demonstrations of hostility. "But thank you for the constructive criticism on my parenting skills, I'm sure we have a lot to learn from each other," he finished with a smirk, which was not matched by the other man.

"Ok. Enough of flattery," said Charming, sensing the silent threat that hung between the two of them. "_Uh_. Snow and I are having a dinner, and we were thinking… _uh_, we were, we _are_ going to call your son… _uh_, because I think, Henry, and your son, they have to meet each other…_ uh_… properly. So, I was thinking… _uh_… since you and your son don't seem to be… _uh_… getting along at the moment, I was wondering… _uh_… if it would be a downright bad idea to-

"Yes, Charming, it would be a downright bad idea to have us both under the same roof," said Rumplestiltskin, before the other man could finish his sentence.

"Oh," said David, somewhat surprised. "Then, no."

"No."

"OK," replied David, as he made to walk away to join Snow and the fairies.

"Charming," said Rumplestiltskin, as he prepared to make his next words sound as indifferent and emotionless as possible. "Thanks for inviting me, anyway."

David made sure to remain serious as he nodded. But as soon as he turned to walk towards Snow, he let out a smile: he had known the older man long enough to understand what that sentence actually meant.

Far from him, there were no smiles being handed out that easily.

"I am sorry that I never told you anything about who I was," Neal said, after long minutes of silence. "I am sorry I didn't tell you anything about the curse. I wish I had. Now I wish I had, though I still don't know whether you would have believed in a single word of it."

"I wouldn't! Of course I wouldn't have believed in a single word of it!" answered Emma, "That's not the point!"

"Emma, please…" he closed his eyes, his mind way too tired to make sense of what she was saying. "Then what is the point? What would be the point of telling, if you would not believe in it?"

"I wanted to be with you!" she exclaimed, as the corner of her eyes started prickling again. "I wanted to be with you, and I would go _anywhere_ it took… to be with you!"

He bit his lower lip so hard he could almost feel the taste of blood on his tongue.

"If you had said that we were going to Storybrooke, Maine, instead of Florida, fine! Do you get it?" her voice trembled, as she finally let all the bottled up feelings wash over her. "I wouldn't have believed in any crappy story about a curse, but I would have believed in _us!_"

"I never stopped believing in us, Emma, I just didn't know what to do!" he answered, and his voice was loaded with despair. "What do you think I felt when August told me I had to leave you for your own sake? How do you think I've spent the last eleven years of my life?"

"Better than I have," she answered, her face covered by tears. "At least you don't have to live with the memory of giving up your own child so that he could have a better chance in life, or with the memories of two years waiting in Tallahassee for a person that never even bothered to write a letter, to call, to show up and explain why the hell _I was not good enough!_"

Neal just stared into her eyes, completely horrified by every single word she was now shouting at him. That was it, he had ruined her life. And the worst part was that she had spent eleven years thinking he had left because _she was not good enough for him_.

And in that moment, when neither of them spoke, he realized he had done much worse than abandoning the woman he loved and his own son. _He had made her lose hope._ What hurt the most when he tried to get past his own tears to look into her eyes was not the shadow of disappointment or anger, but the certainty she would _never_ forgive him for what he had done.

And right now, he was not sure he would ever forgive himself either.


	15. Chapter 15: The end of a very long day

_**A/N: I promised some angst for Chapter 15 but it turns out the real deal got pushed to Chapter 16! Sorry about that, I got carried away with the Neal/Rumple interaction. Consider this part of the story a refreshment, a quick break to restore energy. To redeem myself, I'll spoil you just a little: the title of the next chapter is: "Dead man walking". Will be posted soon!**_

* * *

**_Chapter 15: The end of a very long day_**

Emma was done for the day. The whole conversation with Neal had drained her, but that what was actually driving her crazy was how she and her family had been manipulated "for the greater good". First, her parents had to give her up. Then, the man she loved also had to let her go. Now, she had just found out that Henry ending up with Regina was a part of the scheme as well. In a very short period of time, she had gone from non-believer to believer and was now on the verge of becoming a hater: _magic had torn her life apart_.

She needed to get out of that place.

As she stood up and walked away from Neal, she tried to put herself back together. Swallow the tears, get up, dust yourself off, walk on. That was how she had made it so far, that was just what she would keep on doing.

"I'm leaving," she announced, as soon as she found herself standing before her parents.

"Oh, Emma, you see, your father and I were thinking…"

"Can't it wait?" the blonde interrupted. "I really want to go get Henry and head home."

"Oh, it's just-" Snow tried to explain what they had in mind.

"Please?" Emma asked. She looked positively exhausted.

"Sure," the other woman replied, a loving look spreading across her face as she rubbed her daughter's shoulder. "Let's go."

Rumplestiltskin watched as the Charmings said their goodbyes, and then turned to look at his own son, the only one who was still at the table. Around the Convent, a mosaic of dimly-lit windows slowly cut through the darkness of the night, as the nuns/fairies retreated into their chambers.

He held on to his cane and tried to organize his thoughts. Pushing aside the fact Cora, Regina and Hook were out to kill him, his major concern with Reul Ghorm's web of carefully calculated moves and the fact his dagger had barely tickled her, and also the realization he was bonded to Snow and Charming in a way he had never imagined possible, it was fairly easy to set his priorities straight.

He had to find a way to help his son.

No daggers, pirates, deranged women or deceitful fairies mattered much in comparison to Bae. There was no point insisting on reconciliation at that moment, not after everything his boy had to go through because of _his_ bad decisions. He deserved every single display of indifference and resentment he was getting, and as long as his son found happiness again, not being forgiven was a fair price to pay.

_'You've grown up…'_ he thought, gazing at Neal. For the first time since the beginning of all that madness, he truly realized that his boy was now _a man_. The same dark hair… same eyes… And from what he could remember during the moments in their trip in which Bae had so wholeheartedly played with Henry, the same smile that could light up an entire town. He was a man, but to him,_ his father despite all wrongs,_ he would always be that brave boy that would have fought in the war if he had to, who could see the man behind that wretched curse and would leave everything behind for a way to save him…

The insistent buzz of his cell phone broke his reverie.

"Yes?" he said, curtly.

_"Who's that?"_ a female voice asked on the other side.

"Well, _you_ called _me_, dearie, shouldn't you know?"

The person on the other side was quiet. He made a mental note to _never again _forget to check the caller's ID before answering the phone, otherwise he was bound to be stuck with people who found it funny to call that late just to say nothing.

"Hello?" he growled.

_"I'm sorry,_" the woman replied, sounding confused. _"I think I've got the wrong number."_

He knew that voice.

"Belle?" he asked, his heart skipping a beat.

There was another pause. He could hear her breathing on the other side for two seconds before she hung up. He then checked the caller's ID: either someone was using Belle's phone and sounded an awful lot like her, or Belle herself had just called him.

He didn't know what to think.

After his father had finally stopped staring at him to fumble with his cell phone, Neal took the opportunity to glance at the older man. Part of him wanted nothing but to see him suffer, preferably miles away from him. Part of him just wanted his father to come over and take him home, and tell him everything was going to be fine.

Apparently, one of his two halves would be happy very soon. Rumplestiltskin had put his phone back into his pocket and was now walking towards him.

"Are you planning to spend the night here?" asked the older man.

"No," Neal answered, still staring at the table.

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know."

"OK," answered Rumplestiltskin as he pulled a chair next to Neal and took a seat.

"What are you doing?"

"Waiting."

"What for?"

"´Til you're ready to go home."

_'Now that is a lot of confidence. What makes you think I want to go?'_ Neal asked in silence, looking at his father with a blank expression that he was hoping would conceal how conflicted he was.

"If it's your home, then it's _not mine_," he said, crossing his arms.

"It's still your best option."

"Thanks, but _no thanks_."

"I'm not letting you sleep on the street!"

Neal considered pointing out that, technically, they were in a Convent, but he had something better to say.

"If I did, it wouldn't be the first time."

_Touché_. The pained expression on his father's face made it clear that he had hit a nerve.

"Let's try not to make this about my failure as a father for a moment, Bae" said Rumplestiltskin, raising his tone. He might be a horrible father, _but he was still his father_, and Bae would have to listen. "I believe tomorrow you will be seeing Henry again, and I assume you would want to be prepared for that?"

_Touché._ When Neal rolled his eyes and stood up, tucking his hands into his pockets, Rumplestiltskin knew he had gotten his message across as well.

* * *

"What took you guys so long?" Henry asked when the Charmings finally got to the library.

"Long story, kid" answered Emma. "One that you're not going to hear tonight, sorry."

"What happened to you?" asked Ruby, realizing they all looked like crap. "Were you fighting til now?"

"No. Yes. It's complicated," said Snow, as she took a seat and sighed.

"Where are the others?" the boy asked.

"They stayed at the Convent," answered David, sitting next to his wife.

"The Convent?" asked Henry, as Emma's eyes pierced her father's, in dispaproval. "Why were you at the Convent?"

"Henry, I promise you I will tell you everything you want to know tomorrow, ok?" she said.

"So the Neal guy is really Mr. Gold's son?" Ruby had sat next to Snow, and was now whispering excitedly. "Henry wouldn't stop talking about him, kept telling me how fun he was to hang out with. Is that really him?"

"Yeah, Red. Neal is Mr. Gold's son," answered Snow, giving her friend a tired smile._ 'And my grandson's father,'_ she thought.

"Wow!" the other woman kept whispering. "So Mr. Gold has a son who is fun to be with and _hot_, from what I could see…"

"Oh come on...", Emma groaned, rolling her eyes. _"Seriously?"_

"Uhm… Red, I think we should go," whispered Snow, whose eyes were starting to close. However, she was not sleepy enough to miss her daughter's reaction to her Ruby's remark about Neal.

To think that she had a family dinner to plan and a war she should prepare for… Right now, she had no idea which one of the two tasks was the most challenging.


	16. Chapter 16: Preparations

_**A/N: Thanks once again for all the reviews and comments; I'm so glad you're having fun following this story! Important info: I ended up breaking Chapter 16 in two parts. "Dead man walking" is part 2, "Preparations" is part 1. The good news? I'm posting the two of them tonight, as well as Chapter 18! One day until Manhattan, everyone! **_

* * *

**_Chapter 16: Preparations_**

"What is this?" asked Hook, as he glanced at the suspicious glow that his metal appendage was now irradiating.

"_This_, my dear Hook," answered Regina, "is your _revenge_."

"Are you telling me that whatever magic you cast upon it is enough to kill Rumplestiltskin?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course not," Cora said, in a whisper. "The Dark One can only be killed by the dagger, the one you let slip through your fingers."

_'Oh, yeah. Thanks for reminding me,'_ he thought. How on earth was he supposed to know Tinkerbell, of all people, would be with them? And _Baelfire_… he still couldn't believe Rumplestiltskin had managed to find Milah's son, and the fact he had actually chosen to defend his father after everything that monster had done made his blood boil.

"There are things in life, Hook, that are far worse than death, don't you think?" asked the older woman, moving closer to him. "So if you truly want to ruin Rumplestiltskin's life, _hit him where it really hurts._"

Hook's lips curled into a devious smile as he listened to Cora. His time had finally come to destroy that Crocodile for once and for all.

* * *

When Neal woke up the next morning, his head was pounding. The sunlight that was now flashing past the blinds hurt his eyes, and he really wished he could stay in bed longer. However, now that he was awake, he knew the unfinished businesses from the previous night would not let him go back to sleep.

He dragged himself out of the bed and searched for his pants. As he wore them, he spent some time studying the room he was in, with its dark furniture, spotless linen and minimalist decoration. The only object that seemed to stand out was a reddish ball, one that he quickly recognized from a very distant past. It was carefully placed on top of his nightstand.

Neal forced down the lump in his throat and headed to the kitchen, impressed at how nice the other rooms looked as well. Much to his relief, his father had not insisted on reopening their conversation ever since the two men arrived at the house, and was apparently making sure the two of them were never at the same room at the same time.

_'Found these on the store… or whatever was left of it. Hope they fit.'_

He read the little card on top of a pile of clothes that had been left at the counter, next to a jar of freshly squeezed orange juice, some bagels and a slice of what looked a lot like pumpkin pie. He gulped again, trying to avoid the feeling of warmth spreading inside chest. It felt good to be cared for, but he shouldn't let his hopes go high, not when it came down to his father, at least. He had made that mistake before, and look where it had gotten him.

* * *

Tinkerbell had changed into her fairy-like attire, and was now building a house of cards in the central table of the dining hall at the Sisters of Saint Melissa. Her bright orange hair was nicely wrapped in a bun, and she was wearing a long velvet green cape. A couple of other fairies had gathered around the table and were cheering her on.

"Five seconds!" said one of them, with her eyes glued to a chronometer.

"Done!" exclaimed Tinkerbell, raising her hands.

"And that means you're out, Violet" announced the other fairy, and a round of applause erupted. "Who is the next challenger?"

The door to the dining hall opened, and the voices slowly died down as heads turned to see Neal standing at the doorway.

"Nealfire! Came to say goodbye?" said Tinkerbell, looking at him with a smile as she shuffled the cards. One by one, the other fairies left the room, whispering to each other and looking sideways at Neal as they walked past him. "How about a quick game of cards?"

"I guess I've played enough games in my life," he answered, pulling a chair next to her. "You leaving?"

"Indeed I am," she said, still shuffling the cards. "The preparations for my trip back to Neverland are pretty much finished. I thought I should wait until sunset, though, that's when the skyline is the most pleasant for long trips, in my opinion."

"I need to ask you something," Neal whispered.

"This is your chance, then," Tinkerbell put down the cards, and turned to look at him. "Hit me."

The simple thought of what he was about to say made him feel sick, but he couldn't go on without knowing for sure. _He had to know the truth,_ even if it meant crushing his already crushed heart.

"When you took care of me… and taught me everything you did, and traveled with me to all those places… was it for me to find Emma and…" he was not sure whether he could finish that sentence. "And so that I could… she… so that she could have my baby? Was it all part of the plan?"

Now that he had finally asked, he was not sure he was ready to hear the answer. What if Emma and him had been a setup as well? What if the only reason they had met and fallen in love was because someone else had put them up to it? What if Henry…

"No," Tinkerbell said simply. "Bae, look at me."

Neal looked at his own hands, shaking his head. He wished he could believe that, but now he realized it was not that simple. Tinkerbell knew he had a son and never told him. How could he ever trust her again?

"There are two things magic cannot do, and one of them is having people love each other," she said, when Neal finally raised his eyes to look at her. "A plan that counted on that would be a pretty lame one. Could magic be the reason why you ended up finding each other? _Yes, it could_. Could it be part of the curse itself? _Yes, it could._ But magic allowing people to meet each other has nothing to do with them falling in love and having a child together, do you understand? That is off the table even for Reul Ghorm. _It can't be done._ So, your love for Emma Swan, and her love for you, had _nothing_ to do with people pulling the strings."

"Yet you took my son to Reul Ghorm," he said, trying desperately to understand why she had betrayed him like that. He had always seen Tinkerbell as a friend, and it hurt him to think that she only saw him as another piece of the puzzle. "Why? You, of all people, knew how much I wanted to have a family!"

"So that you know, I tried to call you a fucking million times when I found out Emma was pregnant!" she exclaimed, her piercing blue eyes digging deeply into his. "You were nowhere to be found! Do you really think that going to Reul Ghorm was my first option? I even travelled to Canada to find you! And when I didn't find you, I had to decide, Bae. And I decided that out of all of the options, your son ending up in the system was the worst one.

"Now, you and Emma can keep playing the martyrs and feeling sorry for yourselves, or you can pick up the pieces and move on. Too bad life screwed you both time after time, but guess what? You're not the only ones who got fucked up! Lots of people did, and they got over it. So why can't you?"

"We can't… because we are not the same people we used to be," he answered, when she finally stopped speaking. It was the obvious truth: the two young people who had such high hopes during their Bonnie and Clyde days no longer existed.

"I'm not telling you to be who you were before. That can't be done, I know. But you can be better, so _be better_. Otherwise all of this has meant nothing," she said as she stood up, placing the cards in front of him. "Goodbye, _Nealfire_."

And with those words, she left.

* * *

Night had come earlier than Emma Swan could have wished for. She took another long, deep breath as she mentally rehearsed what she would tell Henry when Neal got to their place. Then, almost as if one thing depended on the other, she once again checked her dress in front of the mirror, smoothing an imaginary wrinkle in the perfectly-cut black dress. She looked at her necklace, and wondered if it was a good idea to wear it at all. Given the circumstances, wearing a watermelon around her neck would draw much less attention than that pendant.

"Emma!" she heard her mother scream. "They should be here at any moment now, come down here and help your father set the table!"

Her hands were sweaty and her mouth kept going dry. She still couldn't believe she had agreed with Snow's idea, and let Henry, _of all people,_ call Mr. Gold to invite him and Neal for dinner.

_'Oh please, you're not a teenager anymore,'_ she thought, finally gathering courage to join Henry and her parents downstairs.

"Finally, what took you s-" Snow started saying, running around with six glasses on her hands. "Wow!" When she finally looked at her daughter, she was at a loss for words. She had never seen Emma look so beautiful. "Emma, you're_ wearing a dress_!" she said at last.

"Too much, right?" Emma asked, biting her lip. "I should change."

"Yeah, I think that dress is… _too short,_" David said through a furrowed brow.

"No it's not!" exclaimed her mother. "You're _gorgeous_."

"Hey, Emma, you look nice!" said Henry, who was looking neat himself. "Mr. Gold's son might even get a crush on you!"

Charming chocked on the peanuts he was eating.

"How funny would that be?" the boy asked, with an amused smile on his face.

_'Not funny at all, kid'_ Emma thought, as she tried to smile back. _'Not funny at all.'_


	17. Chapter 17: Dead man walking

**_A/N: At last, chapter 17, in which Hook pulls a "Severus Snape" moment. Well, sort of, lol. My favorite chapter so far and by far, a difficult one to write and a very central one to the whole story. I hope you enjoy!_**

* * *

**_Chapter 17: Dead man walking_**

"I look like an idiot," said Neal, as he looked at himself in the mirror.

"No, you don't," said Mr. Gold, who was particularly pleased with the attire he had gotten his son. Straight fit black trousers, a belt, a three quarter sleeve striped purple shirt and neat Ferragamo shoes. _'Looking like an idiot'_ was definitely not the case. _'Dress to impress'_, most certainly.

"I do," the younger man replied.

"Well, if you insist, you can try a different shir-"

"No, it's not the clothes," Neal explained. "It's me, it's in my face. When I look at the mirror, all I see is an idiot."

"Well," Rumplestilskin replied, fully aware of his son's nervousness. "That is not what I see at all."

"You don't count!" Neal snapped back. "You're my father."

There was an awkward silence between them. The older man lowered his head, but Neal could see a smile forming in his face. He drooped his shoulders, wishing he had been quiet. The last thing he needed was to have the other man think he was no longer angry at him.

"Whatever…" Neal whispered, in frustration. "Let's go."

"Oh, I'm not going," answered Rumplestiltskin.

"Why not? Henry invited you too."

"I want to give you space," answered the older man. "Tonight should be about you and your son. It's already a lot to deal with."

"Ok," Neal responded, realizing that the fact his old man was being so considerate actually made it _hard as hell_ to keep hating him. "Thanks."

As he left the house and walked down the street, he searched his pockets for the piece of paper in which his father had written the directions to the Charmings'. The more he thought about what he would say to Henry when the two of them were face to face as father and son for the first time, the more he felt he would make a fool of himself. For that reason, the best thing to do was simply not to think of anything anymore, and walk as fast as he could to reach his destination.

Then, as if he was stuck in some sort of nightmare, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned his head around and saw no one, but his mind had already started racing.

Neal kept on walking, but now increasing the speed of his pace, and the footsteps behind him resumed as well. He then stopped, dead on his tracks, and when he realized there was no one but him to be seen in the deserted alley, he screamed, at the top of his lungs.

"August! If that's you, it's just not funny!_ Show yourself_!"

The glossy surface of an iron hook seemed to glow even brighter under the moonlit sky. Slowly, the rest of the pirate revealed himself from under his cloak and walked towards him.

"You!" said Neal, recognizing the man he had battled the previous day.

"Lots of people have taken to saying that when they see me lately," answered the other man with a grimace. "But I have a name, you know. Killian Jones, at your service," he bowed, though his eyes never left Neal's. "But, of course, you can always call me Captain Hook."

"If you're here for the dagger, you're wasting your time," Neal answered. Of all things to happen, _of all days and times_ in which that could happen… He really couldn't afford to get into a fight, _not that night_.

"I'm not here for the dagger, Baelfire," Hook went on, and Neal felt his blood freeze at hearing his name. "You don't really remember me, do you?"

Neal tried as hard as he could to remember where he had seen that man before, but nothing came to his mind. However, he couldn't shrug off the feeling they had already met somewhere…

"No? A tavern… Pirates… _Your mother?_" Hook asked, as the two men started walking in circles, staring at each other, just like two animals who studied each other before going for each other's throats. "_Nothing?_"

"My mother died when I was young," Neal answered. He didn't like the direction that conversation was taking.

"Oh, _did she?_" Hook's eyes gleamed with murderous intent. "Of course he would tell you that, _the coward_."

"What do you mean?" Neal whispered. He shouldn't be asking. _He shouldn't want to know. 'This will not end well,'_ he thought, sensing that the situation would very soon spiral out of control.

"She left your father, Bae, she didn't _die_,' Hook growled, baring his teeth as he did so. "She never loved him, she loved _me_. She left _him_ to be with _me!_"

Neal kept staring at the other man, and wondered if that made any sense at all. Had his father lied about that as well? His mother was actually alive, and he had never known? Suddenly, he realized that there was something out of place.

"I don't think so," he said, relief washing over him. "You would be dead by now if you had ever met my mother, or older, at least."

The other man burst into laughter, though his eyes were still glowing with hatred.

"_Really?_" Hook said. His voice was loaded with disdain. "And that's because you've just ridden into town with Tinkerbell."

Neverland. _Of course_.

Neal inhaled deeply. Perhaps he had been so worried about pushing away the thought of his mother abandoning him to run away with another man that he had missed that ridiculously obvious detail.

"What do you want from me?" he asked at last. The bouquet of lilacs he was taking with him was, at that point, a mere bunch of crushed flowers under his fingers.

"We were brutally interrupted yesterday," Hook replied, as he unsheathed his sword. "I suppose you would agree to bring our duel to a decent close?"

"Sorry, but I don't hang around town with a sword," Neal answered, but there was no sorrow in his voice. If the other man wanted to fight, he would, even if that meant going at him with bare fists.

"Well… _You should._"

With that, Hook lunged at him, and Neal had to duck his first blow by throwing himself on the floor. He was quick to stand, however, and kept his eyes on the other man's hands._ 'A sword and a hook… what the hell!'_ he thought briefly, before dodging another strike of the blade and connecting his knee to the other man's side, who returned the courtesy by elbowing him in the face.

"Son of a-" Neal cursed, as blood spilled from his nose.

He once again had to jump backwards to avoid being hit by Hook's blade, and in a swift movement, he was able to grab his arm and twist it, forcing the other man to drop his sword.

However, much to his bad luck, the pirate's hook was now pointed straight at his neck.

Hook breathed heavily. The kid sure knew how to put up a tough fight. Now was his chance to get back at Rumplestiltskin for everything he had done. He had brutally killed the person Hook loved the most, now it was Hook's turn to take away the life of someone Rumplestilskin loved._ He_ would kill the bastard's son, and would live to see _him_ suffer as _he_ suffered when Milah was gone.

He pressed his hook closer to the other man's neck. His eyes lingered on Baelfire's face, and he noticed that the boy had gotten more than his defiant attitude from his mother. His dark hair and fierce eyes, his complexion as a whole, reminded him of Milah as well.

_He couldn't do it._

Hook lowered his arm and pushed Neal away, searching around for his sword.

"Get out of here," he heard the pirate say. "Go, before I change my mind."

"Change your mind about what, _you rat?_"

Behind them, Rumplestiltskin was staring at Hook with a psychotic look on his face. Before anyone knew what was going on, he raised his hand and Hook was being strangled by some sort of invisible rope, from which he couldn't get rid of.

"Stop!" screamed Neal, as Hook's body started shaking uncontrollably and he went paler by the moment. "STOP!"

He ran towards his father, and shook the older man's shoulders.

"You don't know how vile this man is, Bae!" Rumplestiltskin screamed. "He deserves to die!"

"You don't get to decide that!" Neal screamed back, as the Dark One took over the man that used to be his father, tainting his eyes with a malign shade of red. "_Papa, please!_"

And then it stopped.

Hook was now rolling on the floor holding his neck, and Rumplestiltskin stared blankly into his son's eyes. Neal let go of him, looking distraught. The corners of his eyes were prickling; the memories of his father murdering other people had haunted him for years and he felt, in those few moments, he had relived _every single one of them_.

"I have to get… to Emma's", he said, picking up whatever had been left of the bouquet, and trying to stop the blood that was still pouring from his nose.

"Look what he did to-"

What followed happened way too fast.

Before Rumplestiltskin could finish his sentence, Hook had gotten up and was now preparing to dig his hook right into the Dark One's heart. However, when the pirate looked at the sharp tip of his hook, he could see it was already dripping with blood.

Behind him, Neal had reached out to pull his cloak and stop his attack, and as a result the pirate's hook had cut through his arm.

"No," Hook whispered.

In an explosion of rage, Rumplestiltskin outstretched his arms and sent Hook flying through the air, until he hit a wall on the other side of the street and slid down onto the pavement, unconscious.

"Bae…" the older man whispered, as Neal tried to tender the cut with his sleeve. "Let me see it, son."

"No."

"I can heal it!"

"NO!" Neal screamed. "I don't want your magic!"

"Bae…"

"It's just a scratch," he said, as he ripped a piece of his sleeve to wrap around the wound. "How did you know I was here, anyway?"

"Charming called to ask why you were taking so long," Rumplestiltskin answered. "All I had to do was follow the route I had given you."

"I see," he replied, as he narrowed his eyes to look at the other man. His sight was awfully blurred.

"Bae?"

"I'm fine," Neal said, blinking and trying to smooth his wrecked clothes. "Now if you will excuse me, I have a dinner to attend."


	18. Chapter 18: The dinner is cancelled

**_A/N: The last one for today! As to tomorrow, I cannot promise an update, since I am bound to be a nervous wreck before and after Manhattan! Hopefully, I'll be back for more on Monday or Tuesday!Oh, and by the way, there is another Severus Snape moment on this chapter as well, let's see if anyone gets to spot it. _**

* * *

**_Chapter 18: The dinner is cancelled_**

Back at the Charmings', nobody said a word. Henry had fallen asleep on the sofa, and Emma was clutching her jaw, in an attempt not to curse Neal, or burst into tears. _Or both._ She had taken off the necklace, and was now looking at it with a mix of sadness and anger.

"I'm an idiot,' she said, as she stood up and moved to the kitchen, where Snow was wrapping the food she had prepared to put it into the refrigerator. "I should have never agreed with this idea, I knew it wouldn't work."

"Emma… Didn't you hear what your father said? Rumplestiltskin told him that Neal left hours ago, something serious must have happened!"

"Something serious _always_ happens," she said, lowering her eyes to her own hands. "That is the problem! I don't see how this is going to work, Henry doesn't deserve to have his heart broken by a father he doesn't even know he has yet."

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

"Neal!" exclaimed Henry, who had propped awake when David rose to open the door. "What happened to you?"

"Hey kid," he said, as he touched the boy's arm, looking completely disoriented. _This was so not how he had envisioned that night would be._ "Sorry, I… I got into a fight."

"With whom?" Charming asked.

"Hook," said Rumplestiltskin, from behind his son.

"I thought you weren't coming," said Charming, who was now confused as to what would take place in his house, since the dinner was obviously not going to happen anymore.

"So did I, Charming," the older man replied. "Should I apologize for worrying about my son's health and walking him here?"

"Please come in, Mr. Gold" said Snow, after she and Emma had run from the kitchen to see what was happening in the living room.

"Did you win?" asked Henry, with a smile on his face.

"I'm not sure…" Neal answered, trying to smile as well. There was an insistent buzz on his head that was beginning to bother him.

"Neal," said Emma. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

_And then he saw her._

He felt his jaw had dropped in a very obvious manner, because next to him he heard Henry giggling and David mumble something about a _short dress._

"Sure," he whispered, as he followed her to an empty room.

She crossed her arms after closing the door behind her. He noticed that she seemed to be intent on avoiding his eyes, and that she only did that when the emotions taking over her were far too intense for her to cope with.

"Emma, I'm s-"

"Listen, I understand you have the right to see Henry," she interrupted, pacing up and down in the small room. "You have the right to tell him you're his father. What I want you to understand is that, if you do so, you'd better do a hell of a better job than you're doing now."

"Emma, I-"

"Just listen," she said, "That said, I think it's time I returned you these."

"What is this?" Neal asked, as she placed a couple of keys and a pendant on his open hand.

"The keys to the bug," she answered, with a trembling chin. "And the keychain, I… I had it made into a pendant."

"You've kept the bug?" he asked again, not sure as to whether he felt happy that she had kept it, or sad for the fact she was now returning it. "And the keychain? _After all this time?_"

"Always," she whispered, avoiding his eyes once again. "I guess I've always waited for you to come back for me…" he heard her voice tremble, "but tonight, I finally realized I have to let you go. This is never, _ever_ going to work."

"But Emma, I swear, I was on my way here when-"

"I know. I know you were, and this is the thing," her eyes finally met his, and it was sorrow and loss all over again. "It is almost as if some kind of evil force doesn't want us together. And I just don't think I can't take it, Neal. I'm sorry."

Neal coughed. He needed to tell her not to give up.

"Emma… I-"

_Damn that stupid cough_. He tried to catch his breath, but he felt his throat had just closed up.

"Neal?" Emma's voice was now distant, and before he could say another word, everything went black.


	19. Chapter 19: Matters escalate

_**A/N: I'm still trying to recover from Manhattan, so bear with me, fellow SwanThieves! It's been very hard not to spend another hour re-watching JMo/MRJ and RC in action, they totally nailed it last night. But the show must go on, so here is chapter 19. Chapter 20 will be out tomorrow. Have fun!**_

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_**Chapter 19: Matters escalate**_

Downstairs, an awkward silence settled in when Rumplestiltskin took a seat next to Henry, across from Charming and Snow.

The boy kept looking at everyone's faces, and had a hard time deciding who looked the most worried. His grandma kept glancing upstairs, and his grandpa seemed immersed in deep thought as he held her hand. Mr. Gold was staring at the rug, his brow wrinkled in a mixture of concern and anger as he clutched his cane with one hand and dug his fingers into the arm of the sofa with the other.

Meanwhile, his mother was upstairs, in one of the rooms, _alone_, with Mr. Gold's son.

"Where does my mom know Neal from?" he asked at last. It was not the first time she had asked to talk to him in private, so it was quite obvious they had met before.

Either that or they had bonded _really quickl_y.

"Uh… Uh, well," muttered Snow, as she looked to her husband for help. "Henry, uh… I'm you sure you can ask them that when they come downstairs, we're in the dark as well."

Which was the most absolute truth. Snow and Charming knew their daughter had had a baby with Rumplestiltskin's son; as to the precise circumstances that had led to that happening, it was an _entirely different story_.

"Henry, has your mother ever told you anything about your father?" asked Mr. Gold, partially afraid of the answer he might get.

"What are you doing?" asked David, between gritted teeth.

"The boy needs to know, Charming, for crying out loud!"

"Yes, but you're not the one who should be telling!" exclaimed Snow.

"Telling what?" asked Henry, frowning at her. "What do I need to know?"

"GOLD!"

The shrieking sound of Emma's desperate cry made all four of them stand up at once.

"Bae," Rumplestiltskin whispered, as he heart pounded out of control. "What happened?" he asked in a panic, as he climbed the stairs as fast as he could. "_What happened?_"

When he got to the room Emma and Bae were in, his heart stopped. Emma was kneeling next to his son, who was lying on the floor, shuddering. His eyes were rolling back, and his whole body twitched violently.

"Oh Gods!" he whispered, as he also knelt next to Bae, and his eyes filled with tears. "Hook, what have you done to my boy?"

As he held Bae's shaking arm in his hand, he untied the fabric that covered his injury, and a considerable amount of blood gushed from the cut, which glowed with an intense shade of green.

"Henry, come with me," said Snow, when she realized the boy by her side looked as pale as a ghost.

"Charming, call Mother Superior," yelled Rumplestiltskin. "Call her_ NOW_."

It was David's turn to exit the room, leaving the three of them behind. Emma had stood up and was now reaching for a shirt left on a chair nearby with trembling hands. She looked at Neal again, and felt her own throat close as his skin slowly turned into a sickening shade of blue.

_'Please don't die on me… Please,'_ she repeated mentally, as she pressed the fabric to the cut, only to find out the blood wouldn't stop. "Oh my God, what _is_ this?" she asked, as she reached for another shirt and got rid of the one that was now drenched in blood. "Why won't it stop?"

"Because it's a curse," Rumplestiltskin said simply, as he tried to use his own healing spell and realized in horror that it had no effect at all. "And I can't heal it!"

"_What?_" she asked, not even trying to hide how scared she was. "Gold, talk to me."

Rumplestiltskin, however, just kept looking at his son. He was not even listening.

"Talk to me!" she yelled.

"What do you want me to say, Swan?" he yelled back, his face contorted in pain and fear. "My son is_ dying_, and I can't do anything to save him!"

"What is happening here?" asked Mother Superior, as soon as she reached the room and saw Rumplestiltkin sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall, and Emma holding a shirt soaked in blood, looking paralyzed.

She was quick to kneel next to the younger man, who was still shuddering, and lifted the fabric that was covering his arm.

"How did this happen?" she asked in a whisper, looking at the glowing cut on Baelfire's arm with an expression of death on her face. Pulling out her wand, she pointed it to the wound and whispered an incantation that seemed to make the blood cease flowing.

"Hook," said Emma, and her voice sounded distant. Her whole mind was miles away from there, she didn't want to be in that room anymore, _she couldn't be in that room anymore,_ not with Neal dying by her side.

"Just do something," said Rumplestiltskin, and he sounded distant as well, as if all life had fled his body the moment he saw the wound on his son's arm.

"I can't," she answered. "I can make the bleeding stop, but I can't save him. This kind of curse can only be broken by a remedial potion for which I don't have even half of the ingredients, or…"

"_By true love's kiss_," completed Charming, who had rejoined the group and was standing by the door.

The Blue Fairy lowered her eyes, and saw that Baelfire had stopped shuddering. She was relieved to see the boy was breathing, but she knew it wouldn't be for long unless they found a way to neutralize the spell in his wound.

"It's not that simple," she whispered, as Neal slowly opened his eyes and looked around to make sense of his whereabouts.

"Sure as hell it isn't!" Emma exclaimed with her eyes wide open when she realized both her father and Gold were looking at her.

"It wouldn't hurt to try…" said Charming, looking at his daughter.

"It fucking _would_!" she replied, staring at her father in disbelief. "Please don't ask me to do that!"

"Do what?" asked Neal, who was still trying to understand what the hell Reul Ghorm was doing kneeling over him.

"Emma, I beg of you," said Rumplestiltskin. The man had never felt and looked so devastated before, not even after that disastrous night when Belle lost her memories, not even after having been yelled at by his son a few nights ago. "_Please_. You might be his only chance."

She kept shaking her head. What part of it didn't they understand? _She just couldn't do it!_

"Emma, wh-" started Neal, who had raised himself to a sitting position and was now rubbing his eyes.

And then she did it.

And he didn't understand it at all.

Her lips were now glued to his, and whatever was the reason for that, he just closed his eyes and kissed her back, cupping the back of her head. _God, he had missed her so much_.

And then, as fast as it had started, it was over. She had pulled away.

"I can't," she said, as she stood up and let herself fall onto a chair. "I can't!"

"You can't what?" Neal asked again, still slightly disturbed by the whole situation. "Can anyone please explain what is going on?"

He had now seen the blood soaked shirts that lay near him, and judging by the look on everyone's faces, the situation was far worse than he could imagine.

"I want to see him!" he heard Henry's voice approach, and soon enough the kid had entered the room, followed by a very distraught Snow White, who just shook her head to Emma and Charming.

"If only you would stop screaming," she whispered.

"Neal!" Henry exclaimed, as he saw Neal trying to hide his arm from him. "What happened to you?"

"Have you told him?" murmured the Blue Fairy, looking at Bae.

"Tell me what?" asked Henry, who had a very good sense of hearing.

"You should," she replied, never leaving Baelfire's eyes. "_Now more than ever_."

"Wow, thanks for the reminder," he whispered back, suddenly feeling a rush of panic flood his veins. Why _'now more than ever'_?_ What the hell did that mean?_

"We will, don't worry," interrupted Emma, touching Henry's arm and leading him towards the door. "Henry, I promise you that tomorrow-"

"Not tomorrow,_ today_!" Henry yelled. "Stop treating me like a child!"

"I'm your father, Henry."

A collective gasp could be heard in the small room. The only one who seemed unaffected by the reveal was Mother Superior, who slowly got to her feet, and Neal himself. There was no point waiting for the right time to tell the kid. _There would never be a right time for that_.

"What?" Henry said, looking from Neal to Emma. "You said my father was dead!"

Neal blinked and swallowed at the kid's words. _Dead_. Well, Emma sure as hell had her reasons.

"Could you all please leave us alone?" Neal said, as he stood up with a certain amount of effort.

"But Bae, y-" Rumplestiltskin whispered, reaching out to help him stand.

"Get out," Neal snarled, avoiding his father's help. He would deal with his father and his lies later. "And close the damn door behind you."

He saw the older man open his mouth to say something, then turn on his heels and leave. Soon, there were only the three of them in the room, and Emma was the first to speak.

"Henry, I'm s-"

"Emma," Neal interrupted. "Please let me do this."

He had already put her through enough. It had been enough to be abandoned by the father of her child to give birth in jail, only to give the baby up for adoption because she really had no other choice. He could _at least_ spare her the burden of explaining that messed-up story.

"Henry, when I met your mother, I was not what you could call good company. I got into a lot of trouble, and I kind of dragged her along a lot of stuff that she shouldn't have had to go through…"

"Well, now that is not totally true, is it?" Emma interrupted. If it was time to lay their cards on the table, then be it: she would be as honest as she could about her past. "I was not good company either, Henry. I was a thief."

"So was I," Neal continued, not exactly proud of his past. "But anyway, one day, things went very wrong, and your mother was arrested, and I ran away to Canada, and we never met again." He knew he was skipping a whole lot of very important parts, but at the end of the day, that was exactly what had happened. "I didn't know about you, then. But still, I had left you, left _you both_, can you imagine how miserable your mother was? She was mad at me. She has been, ever since that day."

He raised his eyes to glance at Emma, but she just looked away. As he looked back at Henry, he realized the boy still seemed confused and unhappy, but at least not as angry as before.

"And that is why she said I was dead," he concluded. "Probably because when the truth hurts too much, Henry, adults can't take it, so they _lie_. We shouldn't, but sadly… that's what we do."

It was Emma's turn to swallow and blink.

"So… Do you think you can forgive _us_?" Neal asked. Even though he had never known about the kid until days ago, he felt he could do with some forgiving as well. He had to take responsibility for his actions.

"You know, I once stole grandma's credit card," the boy answered, smiling sadly.

"Oh, Henry!" Emma whispered, trying to hold back her tears.

"See?" Neal replied, trying to ignore the prickling in the corner of his eyes as he smiled too. "You're making your mom proud!"

"Oh, shut up, Neal!" snapped Emma, though she couldn't help but smile as well.

"Well," Henry said, looking at Emma and Neal. "I guess I can try."

_And that was all that they needed to hear._


	20. Chapter 20: 96 hours

**_A/N: I should say, as the story approaches its most critical parts, it's starting to take its toll on me (pauses to grab a tissue). Believe me, I need your reviews now more than ever to keep the ball rolling, lol. They always make me feel better about myself, even when I'm about to do awful things to our favorite characters! That said, I'm posting two chapters today. Here is the first, in which Charming gives Rumple some tough love and the Blue Fairy explains her agenda. I hope you enjoy. _**

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**_Chapter 20: 96 hours_**

"I'll have to take him to Saint Melissa," said the Blue Fairy, as she joined the Charmings downstairs.

"Over my dead body," answered Rumplestiltskin with a murderous intent on his eyes. "Do you honestly think I'll let you take my son from me again?"

"He will need constant healing spells while we look for the ingredients for the potion, Rumplestiltskin," she replied. "What do you expect me to do? Let him die while you try to make up for your mistakes as a father?"

Charming had to pull the older man by his coat to avoid a disastrous showdown in the middle of his living room.

"If you don't mind me saying me that," he said, "shouldn't we put old grudges behind for a moment here? If this is going to save Baelfire, then let's take him where he will be cared for."

"What do you mean by '_let's _take him', Charming?" Rumplestiltskin snapped back. "Since when you have a say on my son's life?"

"What I'm saying-"

"He is MY son, not yours!"

"And he had a son with MY daughter!" Charming yelled back. "Sorry if I want him to be part of MY family!"

Snow's head snapped towards her husband, and her eyes sparkled with pride. Even though she was happy to say she knew Charming well enough after everything they had been through, it made her even happier to realize how he was still able to surprise her in moments like these.

"Stop trying to get people to hate you," he finished, his ears slightly reddish after the outburst. "You may end up succeeding!"

"We should all try and calm ourselves down for a minute," Snow said, ignoring Rumplestiltskin's disdainful sneer. "If we don't, we won't be able to think straight, right?" she continued, looking from the two men near her to Mother Superior, "The potion Neal needs, how long until you get it done?"

"The problem is not getting it done," the Blue Fairy answered. "The problem is getting the ingredients. You see, Baelfire's been inflicted with a very rare degenerative curse, one that is extremely hard to recreate, and charges a tremendous price upon whoever enacts it."

"I should have killed him," murmured Rumplestiltskin, still with the same menacing glow in his eyes. "I _will _kill him."

"You shouldn't worry so much about Hook by now," said the Blue Fairy, as she turned her head to look upstairs. "He wasn't the one to come up with the curse. He has only been used to enact it."

"Cora…" Snow whispered.

"And Regina," Mother Superior said. "We will have to speed up our plans, otherwise your whole family will be in danger."

"What about the ingredients? How do we get them?" asked Charming.

Mother Superior let out a sigh, and the three other people in that room knew it meant bad news.

"As I said, we are dealing with an extremely rare curse, and the potion we will need to concoct is equally complex," she said. "It depends on ingredients that…"

"…_cannot be found in our realm_," completed Rumplestiltskin.

"So you're saying we will have to jump realms to get the ingredients?" asked Charming, looking confused. "Can we even do that? How much time do we have, how much time does _he_ have?"

Neither the fairy nor the other man said a word, although clearly the two of them knew the answer.

"How much time?" asked Snow in a whisper.

"Two to three days, four with the healing spells," Mother Superior said at last. "It all happens very quickly."

By that time, Rumplestiltskin had already destroyed half of the Charmings' living room, and none of them had tried to stop him. The man's rage, however, did not go unnoticed by the three people upstairs.

"What's happening here?" asked Emma, with Henry running closely behind her.

Neal followed them, and judging by the broken shelves and glass scattered across the room, his father had just had a mental breakdown. The fact that the other three people didn't seem to be bothered by that at all only reinforced his impression there was something very wrong going on.

He glanced down at his wounded arm, and hoped that whatever tragedy they were about to announce didn't have anything to do with it. Not now, not when he was finally being given the opportunity to get to know his own son. But who was he kidding? All eyes were on him - of course he was screwed. _'Just for a change,' _he thought, as he went down the stairs.

"How bad is it?" Neal asked, trying to ignore the fact his sight was getting blurred again, and hoping no one would notice that he was having a hard time moving his half-numb legs.

There was a moment of silence, in which Mother Superior and Rumplestiltskin looked at each other as if to decide who was going to break the bad news. Charming glanced from his wife to Henry and Emma, and Snow just kept looking at Neal, opening her mouth several times to speak and eventually closing it, unable to find the right words.

"I'll take that as _'very bad'_", he said, before coughing and faking a smile. "But feel free to correct me at any given time."

"Bae, I will need you to come to the convent with me," said the Blue Fairy, "so that we can tend to your injury properly."

"Right," he answered. Spending the night in a convent wasn't his idea of fun, but at least it gave him an excuse not to be with his father anytime soon. Running into Hook on his way to the Charmings had not only resulted in an injured arm and a bleeding nose, but also in the realization that his father had lied to him about his mother. And if that was not enough, he had shown very clearly that he would still resort to murdering other people whenever he had the chance.

He tried not to let such thoughts affect him much, though, and turned to look at Henry. "How about having breakfast with me tomorrow? They have a pretty cool patio at Saint Melissa."

"Saint Melissa will be a bit of a mess tomorrow, Bae" Mother Superior said, before the boy could answer. "So I wouldn't make plans about breakfast."

"A bit of a mess?" Neal asked.

"Yes. We'll be holding a Council tomorrow," Mother Superior announced. "I've sent a call to fairies of other realms in order to start the preparations for the battles that are to come. As soon as I get back to Saint Melissa, I shall send out an urgent note requesting that they bring whatever they might have that can help in your treatment."

"A Council of Fairies?" asked Rumplestiltskin, whose eyes now seemed to flash with a dim streak of hope.

"Yes," the Blue Fairy answered simply, as she walked towards the door. "And consider yourself invited," she added, without looking at him. "I think you're entitled to, given the circumstances. So are you, Baelfire. Chaming, Snow, Emma, it would be wise if you could gather the townsfolk and let them know of the dangers we are facing. Tell them to be safe, and prepared. Make sure to find out where their loyalties are."

"What about me?" asked Henry, realizing he was the only one with no designated duty.

"You keep yourself out of harm's way, Henry" she said, lowering her head to look at the boy with a smile. "Can you do that?"

He just rolled his eyes and walked back to the sofa. Neal watched him, with a smile on his face. He wished he could sit next to him and make the boy feel better about the whole situation.

_If only he had the time._


	21. Chapter 21: I might remember your name

**_A/N: Many thanks to russianeyes718ouat7ncis, who pointed out the change in the pairing. I've corrected that. Crazy as this story may be, I certainly have no intentions of pairing Emma with Anton! But kudos for those who do, lol. Here is chapter 21, the last one before the Council of Fairies, in which the title of this fic shall be explained. Feel free to review, I feel really motivated when you do it!_**

* * *

**_Chapter 21: I might remember your name_**

_'Back to the lion's cage. Who would have thought…'_ Neal as he and Mother Superior reached the gates of the convent.

"As you will soon realize," she said, as they entered the building, "we don't offer the same luxurious accommodation your father does, but if everything goes well you will not be staying long."

"I'm in no rush to go back to his house," Neal answered.

"Really?" she asked, although she didn't sound surprised. "In that case, you should arrange to stay with the Charmings for a while. I'm sure Henry would enjoy that."

"Oh, and so would Emma," he replied, wrinkling his forehead as he spoke. "She would have a blast, hire a band and all to welcome me, I'm sure."

"Give her time, Baelfire," Mother Superior said, as she led him to his room. "Some wounds take more time to heal than others."

As he looked at the cell where he would be spending the night, he realized there was only a bed, a sink, a chair and a desk placed under a little window covered by yellowish curtains. The bed linen was white and modest, and yet, he felt he would sleep much better there than in the carefully decorated room from the previous night.

"May I see your injury again?" she asked, as he sat on the bed and outstretched his arm, looking slightly unpleased. He still had mixed feelings about the whole magic healing stuff: on one hand, magic itself was the reason his life had been that miserable. On the other, it might be his only way to stay alive and be with Emma and their son.

He made sure to keep his eyes on the fairy's face as she removed the bandages she had placed over his wound some hours ago, and saw her frown. Then he looked down at his own arm, and couldn't help but gasp.

"Jesus Christ Almighty!" he exclaimed.

"Very religious," she said, as she took her wand and pointed it to the greenish cut and the huge black stain that circled it. "Did you use to go to church when you were outside our land?"

"Sometimes," Neal answered, somewhat sad to remember his teenage years. "I liked to hear the people singing."

"You will like it in here, then," she responded. "People sing all the time."

"Really?" he said, with a half-hearted smile. "Then you're more like a 'Sister Act' kind of convent?"

"I don't know what that is."

"Never mind…" he whispered.

"Bae, can I ask you a question?"

Neal nodded. He now realized that, for some reason, every time he was near Reul Ghorm, it was like being 14 again. _And he was not sure he liked it…_

"Are you not resentful of me, after everything that happened to you and Emma?"

"Of course I am," he said, as his eyes searched a spot on the wall he could focus on, instead of her face. "I just don't want you to lose your concentration, not when you're performing magic on my arm." It was a lame lie, and he couldn't help but let out a sigh when he saw her eyeing him with what looked a lot like compassion. "But I blame him more than I blame you," he continued. "Your reasons were legit, at least. His, not so much."

"You are a very special child, Baelfire" she said, and Neal felt a clutch in his stomach. He _once was_ a nice child… But now things were different. "And sooner than you imagine you will realize that abandoning someone you love can hurt as much as being abandoned."

"Yeah, right" he muttered. "We'll just have to agree to disagree on that one."

They were interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

"Please come in, Nova" Mother Superior said. "I'm done with him already."

As she prepared to cover his wound again, a kind-faced fairy entered the room, holding a book in her hands.

"It's so nice to meet you, Baelfire!" she said, her face illuminated by a broad smile. "My name is Nova, but you can call me Astrid."

"And you can call me Neal," he replied, standing to greet her. It still felt weird to have people call him that name.

"I know you must be awfully tired," Astrid said, "but before you go to bed, can I ask you to meet a friend of mine? I don't know if we'll have time to do this tomorrow," she explained, looking at Mother Superior.

"As long as you don't take too long," the other fairy replied. "He needs to rest."

Neal was not in the mood to meet anyone, not after everything he had been through that night. Besides, he was wearing a ripped shirt, his trousers were stained with blood and mud, and his nose had an ugly bump that was not particularly nice to look at, not to mention his half-dead arm.

"I don't think I'll make much of an impression, if you know what I mean," he said, with an apologetic look in his eyes.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," she replied. "She is very nonjudgmental, believe me."

And there he went down the corridor, for the last endeavor of the night.

"Come in!" a female voice said after Nova knocked on a door that was not that far from his.

"I brought a friend of mine that I would like you to meet," said Nova, as she approached a dark-haired woman who was sitting at the edge of the bed, reading a book.

"Oh," the blue-eyed lady replied, looking at Neal as if trying to solve a puzzle. "Do I… _Do I know you_?"

"I don't think you do, no," answered Astrid, looking at Neal. "But you might have heard of him. Why don't you tell her your name?"

"I'm Neal, nice to meet you," he said, as he outstretched his injured arm, and then changed it for the other one, which resulted in a very strange handshake. He seriously doubted anyone in town would have heard of him, but at this point, he would just roll with it.

"Your other name," Astrid whispered.

"Oh," Neal cleared his throat, and scratched his nose before speaking. "But you can call me Baelfire."

The woman frowned for a brief second as her blue eyes studied his face more carefully.

"Sounds familiar?" asked the fairy.

"A little," answered the woman, tilting her head. "But I might be mistaken, that name makes me think of a child. I'm sorry!"

"That's ok," Nova replied, and her face showed a very clear expression of joy.

"And your name is…?" Neal asked, trying not to show how confusing that situation was.

"I don't remember," the woman answered, with a sad smile.

"Oh," he said. _'And why should I be surprised?'_ he thought, before talking to her again. "Sorry about that."

"That's fine, really," she answered, looking at her hands. "I'm sure it's temporary."

"Yes it is," said Nova, sitting next to her to hold her hand, reassuringly. "You will see!"

The woman smiled again, and as soon as they said their goodbyes and left the room, he couldn't help but ask.

"What has just happened?"

"It's a long story. The woman you've just met is called Belle," Astrid responded. "Librarian, daughter to Moe French, intelligent, kind-hearted and extremely brave."

"Wow, if you know her name, why didn't you tell her?" Neal asked, as he dragged himself back to his room. He was not sure his brain would be able to process any more information, though.

"Oh, that has been tried," she answered. "But the previous approaches have apparently scared her, so when she finally came to Saint Melissa, I thought it would be better to start from scratch."

"How do you know that much about her, anyway?" he asked again, and yelled mentally at his own self to leave all the curiosity for later, after a good night of sleep.

"Oh, uh… I have a friend," she said, and Neal couldn't help but notice she was blushing. "Leroy. He knows her."

"And you just offered to help?"

"Well, yes," she said, with another radiant smile. "That's what we do, right? Nuns, fairies, in the end it's all the same. We try to make people find their happy endings!"

_'How very noble,'_ he thought, his cranky mood starting to show as he prepared to call it a night.

"Anyway… thanks for helping," she said, "I hope it wasn't too much information for you."

"Glad to be of assistance," he whispered, as he approached his bed. "But just out of curiosity, why did you want her to hear my name?"

"Oh, that…" she said, and for a moment she seemed to hesitate. "It's just that I imagined your father would have talked to her about you."

Neal raised his eyebrows and blinked. Maybe he had heard it wrong.

"Sorry, _what?_" he asked, frowning.

"She was… she _is_ deeply in love with Rumplestiltskin," she said at last, as Neal's eyes nearly bulged out of his skull. "She just can't remember that."

He really felt he should say something, but he was absolutely sure more than half of what he wanted to say were words that would be considerate inappropriate in a conversation with a nun.

"Goodnight, Baelfire" she said, as she left the room and closed the door behind her.

_'Great. Just drop the bomb and walk away,'_ he thought, as he slumped down into the bed. To think that a few days ago his greatest concern was whether the guys at Everglade Solar Inc. were going to send him to jail for nearly breaking their company in the stock market… He covered his head with the pillow, and growled into it. _He was so not going to sleep as well as he thought he would._


	22. Chapter 22: Council of Fairies

**_A/N: Thanks for reviewing, reading and following! This chapter is particularly sad. And long, which means a lot of sadness. Not sure if it's the saddest chapter of all, but a strong contender. I feel so, so sorry for everything I've been doing to Neal... *weeps* Needless to say I had to stop and take a walk while writing a few scenes, otherwise I would be an emotional wreck. Without any further ado, here is the Council of Fairies, in which we learn some fairies are not as benevolent as we may think..._**

* * *

**_Chapter 22: Council of Fairies_**

_He knew he was dreaming, and yet he had never felt so frightened in his whole life._

_The wind tumbled the leaves covering the dark forest ground as he chased a woman, trying to run from the voices behind him. He was out of breath, but he wouldn't stop. He could see her. She was so close. _

_"Mother?"_

_Then she stopped. _

_He moved closer, seeing her long white dress and black wavy hair fluttering in the wind. She slowly turned her head, and then a silent cry left his throat._

_She had black sockets for eyes and there were scars all over her chalk-white, skeletal face. Her breath smelled of death. She reached out for him, and he felt his arms burning at her touch._

Neal woke with a start as he fell from the bed, covered in cold sweat as his stomach contracted and bile spilled from his mouth. He could hear footsteps around him, but his sight was way too blurred for him to make sense of what was going on in the small room. He blacked out again.

The next time he opened his eyes, he was back in his bed, wearing fresh clothes. He then blinked, and glanced down at the clean bandage over the injury on his arm.

"How are you feeling?" he heard a familiar voice ask.

It didn't take long for him to spot Emma sitting by the window.

"I've been better," he said with a smile, trying to bring himself to a sitting position and feeling every muscle of his body protest. "You?"

"Great," she replied, and he couldn't help but notice her eyes were red and swollen.

"Have you been-"

"Henry wants to see you," she interrupted, looking at the window. "I tried to explain it was not a good time, but…" her voice slowly died away, and she stood up. "He is waiting for you in the patio."

After he watched Emma leave the room in silence, he got to his feet and looked around for his clothes. From what he could remember, the morning would be a busy one, and if he wanted to spend time with Henry, he didn't have a single minute to waste.

* * *

"I feel bad for the kid," Emma said, as she watched Neal and Henry talking in the patio. They both looked entertained with each other, with smiles splattered across their faces. "I know he's not showing it, but he hates to see Neal in pain."

Snow thought of asking Emma if it was Henry she was really talking about, but just touched her daughter's shoulder instead. The message in that gesture, after all, was pretty much the same.

Emma swallowed hard when she felt her mother's hand squeeze her shoulder, and wondered how she managed to do it. How she could know her so well, even though they had spent 28 years of their lives away from each other.

She wished she could take her eyes off Henry and Neal, and stop thinking of how close the three of them had been to having a home, a life, memories together as a family. She had been lonely for so long… and now she had them both back in her life, but she was just not the same. Something inside her had broken the night Neal left her and she had no idea how to fix it.

Breathing deeply, she made an effort not to start crying again. 'Cause if she did, she was not sure she would be able to stop.

* * *

"I'm so sorry to interrupt," said Astrid, as she approached Baelfire and his son. "But the Council is about to start."

Neal looked at Henry with a satisfied smile. He had no idea as to how he would be a decent father after 11 years of absence, but it felt good to be able to learn more about the kid's life. Their brief conversation had been all about pumpkin pies, school and the people in Storybrooke, and yet it had been one of the most meaningful he had had in his entire life.

"Time to go, kid" he said, as he shuffled Henry's hair. "Take care of your mother while I'm away, ok?"

"Yeah," the boy replied, with a hint of sadness in his voice. "She's been crying a lot lately, when she thinks I'm not watching," he continued. "It's weird. Emma never used to cry."

Neal blinked, and tried to keep smiling despite the bolt of guilt now shooting through him. "It must be really hard for her to see me… after everything that's happened," he said.

"Do you still love her?" Henry asked, and Neal had to look away as he wrinkled his forehead and tried not to show how difficult that topic was for him. What could he say? If he told Henry the truth, he might end up giving him hope of a reconciliation that would probably never happen. He didn't want to lie to his own son, not after seeing what lies do to people's lives…

"Oh, Henry…" he answered, suddenly feeling very tired. "I do, but it's not that simple."

"She loves you too, you know?" Henry replied.

"Yeah?" Neal asked, and that was exactly what he had feared: the boy's eyes were flashing with expectation. "How do you know that?"

"She acts different around you than she does around other people," he answered.

"Different how?"

"I don't know…" Henry narrowed his eyes and seemed to think for a moment. "She acts… like she does around me, I guess."

_'Kid, don't do that to me…'_ Neal thought, as he too started feeling optimistic, against his own will. Perhaps that was the reason why he couldn't bring the conversation to an end.

"And how does she act around you?" he asked, even though he shouldn't have, given Astrid's nervous fidgeting next to him.

The boy smiled, and turned to look at his own mother who was waiting for him near the gate.

"I think a lot of people come to her when they are in trouble, so she has to be tough," Henry said. "But when she's with me and my grandparents, she's just… _herself_, you know?"

Neal looked into his son's eyes, and felt for the first time since he had arrived in Storybrooke that things could actually change for the better.

* * *

Minutes after Henry and the Charmings left the convent, a number of special guests started crowding the patio.

"Titania," said the Blue Fairy, as she approached a tall woman with wavy brown hair and fierce brown eyes. "It's been a long time."

"Indeed it has," the other woman replied, and her dark red lips curled into a proud smile. She was wearing a long purple dress and cape, and seemed fully aware of the heads that kept turning when she walked towards the round table. "And you must be Baelfire, the Boy Who _Lived_," she said, adding a dramatic emphasis to the last word.

Neal, who was standing next to the Blue Fairy, was uncertain as to how to return the greeting.

"Oh, wait," the woman said, as she took a step closer to him. "Never mind, I think that's another boy," she smiled, before gasping and turning around with a shocked look on her face. "Is Oberon here?" she asked, before walking away.

"Yes, my fiery queen, I am in here," answered a brown-haired man who was wearing a very short white chiton that left very little for imagination, and for that reason attracted a considerable amount of fairies that flocked around him, whispering.

"I should tell you," the Blue Fairy whispered in his ear, "that the more power people have, the more they tend to… _ignore_ certain standards of conduct. And since you are about to sit at that table with magical entities that have been around for far too long for their own good, try not to let it get to you, and you'll be fine."

When he spotted his father taking his seat a few feet away from him, he seriously doubted he would be fine anyway.

"Thank you all for being here," Reul Ghorm said, as one by one the fairies, sorcerers and other beings took their places around the table. "Morgan, I take Vivien is not coming?" she asked, after spotting an empty seat next to a pale woman who had raven-feather black hair and deep black eyes.

"She sends her regards", the other woman answered. "But also says you knew what side she would take when the moment came."

"I certainly do," the Blue Fairy whispered, and Neal noticed that there were many other spots that had not been taken, which could only mean that Vivien lady was not the only guest who had declined the invitation.

"I would have expected Tinkerbell to be here today," said a red-headed woman with a butterfly necklace. "Where is she?"

"I'm afraid she won't be joining us, Glinda," replied the Blue Fairy. "She never comes to the Councils," she added, looking at Neal.

It was only then that Neal noticed the seat next to him was also vacant, and he didn't actually know what to think of that. _Did that mean Tinkerbell was not willing to help?_ He tried to hide his discomfort by looking the other way, only to find out that was exactly where his father was sitting.

"I have a question," said Titania, as she raised her voice and cast a poisonous look towards Rumplestiltskin. "What is _he_ doing here?"

"Titania, I thought I had made myself clear in the message I sent to all of you", Reul Ghorm replied.

"You are very good at leaving out _certain details_, Reul Ghorm," the other woman continued, with a sneer on her lips. "I don't actually remember reading the name 'Rumplestiltskin' in any of the two messages I received."

A round of whispers broke around the table. Neal kept looking at his father, to see how he would react. The old man was clutching his cane and staring down at the table, as if making an enormous effort not to talk back or cast a spell that would turn all of those around him in a cloud of dust.

"This Council is not about Rumplestiltskin, Titania," said the red-headed woman. "It's about a war that is about to take place, and about saving an innocent man's life."

Neal flinched at the word _innocent,_ but couldn't help appreciating the intent.

"A man that very conveniently is _Rumplestiltskin's son_," the dark-haired woman snapped back. "I really admire your generosity, Glinda, as I see you have already given Reul Ghorm some of your Water of Oblivion without asking for anything in return, but since I believe that this man deserves whatever tragedy falls upon him," she raised her voice again, pointing an accusing finger at Rumplestiltskin, who bared his teeth in return and seemed about to burst into flames, "I am raising my charges. And if you really want any item in my possession, you will have to offer me more than a handful of spells."

"I'll offer you a page," said a voice coming from the gate.

Everyone turned their heads to look at Tinkerbell, who had just arrived at Saint Melissa holding two children by the hand. The oldest one was carrying a baby in his arms.

Neal saw Titania's eyes gleam with delight.

"Just come over and choose it", the fairy concluded, as she took a seat next to him.

"What are you doing?" asked Neal, clearly disturbed by the fact Tinkerbell had just called a child _'it'_.

She said nothing, and clutched her jaw instead.

"Is this a boy?" asked Titania, as she took the baby in her arms.

"Yes," the fairy's voice was void of emotion when she spoke.

The dark-haired woman then turned on her heels and walked towards the Blue Fairy, dropping a flask containing some powdery golden dust on the table in front of her.

"Morpheus' Sand," she said, before walking back to her chair. "You're very welcome."

Neal looked from Tinkerbell to Titania in disbelief as the transaction unfolded. He felt sick.

"If you will excuse me," he said, before standing up and moving towards the gate.

"Where are you going?" asked Tinkerbell, as she stood up as well, and followed him.

"I'm leaving," Neal answered, still finding it hard to believe a child had just been traded for some stupid magic dust.

"Baelfire, you don't understand," said Tinkerbell, as she tried to catch up with him. "Children are my only currency!"

_"Currency?"_ he asked, turning to look at her with a disgusted expression. "Are you _insane?_"

"I know, it's very poor taste. That's why I never come to the councils," the fairy replied, with a sad shadow clouding the usual sparkle in her eyes. "Because that is a price I never want to pay."

"So why did you do it?" Neal barely realized he was now screaming.

"Because today is different!"

"I don't want you to trade children to save me!"

"I know you don't!" Tinkerbell yelled back. "And that's why I need to do it, because you _need_ to be _saved!_" she continued. "You still don't realize how special you are, do you?"

He wished people would stop saying that. He was far from special. If he were, he wouldn't have spent so many years of his life alone and feeling like crap.

"If that was the only way to save Henry, wouldn't you do it?" she asked, and he really wished she hadn't. It made him realize that he would never let his own son die if there was something he could do about it.

"It is not the same thing," he replied, avoiding her eyes as he ran his hands over his hair and walked back to his place by the table.

"It kind of is," Tinkerbell whispered, when Neal was already out of hearing distance.

* * *

After the conversation with Tinkerbell, the rest of the council was a mix of voices and bargains Neal made no effort to make sense of. The fairy was sitting quietly by his side, and the two children that had come with her to the convent played near the flower racks, as if nothing had actually happened.

"There is only one ingredient missing now," announced the Blue Fairy, as she looked at the parchment full of annotations in her hands. "The ashes of a sacred sorbus. Oberon, the last time we met, you were the one who had it. What would you be willing to trade it for?" she asked, taking a deep breath as she prepared for the negotiation.

The man sitting next to Titania had a very enigmatic expression on his face as he looked at Reul Ghorm.

"Well now, if this is not the ultimate twist of fate," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I don't have it anymore, because I've traded it…" he paused, fully aware that all eyes were on him, "…with _him._"

When he pointed at Rumplestiltskin, Neal hoped, from the bottom of his heart, that it was a joke.

"A very long time ago, in fact," Oberon continued, "you came to me, Rumplestiltskin, looking for the ashes for this curse you were trying to create. You offered me an Indian changeling boy, and the deal was struck."

Once again, Neal turned to look at his father, and judging by the terrified look on the other man's face, what Oberon said was true. He felt a rush of panic when he looked at the other fairies and realized their jaws seemed to have dropped slightly, except for Titania, who was about to break into a fit of laughter.

"To cut a long story short, I don't have the ashes," said Oberon. "_He_ does, unless he has used them."

All the blood had drained from Rumplestiltskin's face, and Neal's heart skipped a beat. _He had used them._

"Can we find them elsewhere?" Morgan asked quietly.

"If sacred sorbus still existed, we could burn some," Titania said, with a vengeful grin splattered across her face. "But alas, they do _not_."

In seconds, the table had shattered into a million of tiny pieces under Rumplestiltskin's touch, and jets of light were flying in every direction. A blast of blue light nearly blinded Neal, and when he opened his eyes again, Titania and Oberon were gone, and the remaining magical entities looked at each other in confusion.

"The Council is dismissed," Reul Ghorm announced. She looked at Rumplestiltskin, who had his hands magically tied behind his back, and then to Neal, and the look in her eyes made it clear that things couldn't be worse.

_'If only that was the case,'_ he thought, bitterly. He'd had sand kicked in his face far too many times in his life, and if there was one thing he had learned, it was that things can _always_ get worse.


	23. Chapter 23: Denial

_**A/N: Here is some angry Neal for you, readers! Hope you enjoy. Hang around, because next chapter is not only about Reul Ghorm and Tinkerbell: Bae will learn something big about his own family and Shang will finally be brought into the conversation. Thanks for reviewing, following and reading!**_

* * *

_**Chapter 23: Denial**_

He needed to be alone.

Soon enough he would be at the dining hall with the Blue Fairy, Tinkerbell and Rumplestilstskin, so that the magical trio would report the morning events to the other leaders that were coming to join them: Emma, David, Snow. Neal let out a mirthless laughter. He could hardly wait.

Right now, he really needed to be alone.

As he made his way back to his cell, he saw that the door that led to the dark-haired woman's room was half-open. He then realized he didn't remember her name.

_'Well, that makes two of us,'_ he thought, as he had a sudden change of heart and, instead of heading to his own room, headed to hers.

He stopped midway to glance at his reflection on a small mirror hanging on the wall. He laughed again, but his eyes had a menacing glow that completely changed his face. _"…like a car crash…"_ he started singing, as he gazed at his bluish skin and bloodshot eyes, _"… your wheels are turning but you're upside down…"_

_Knock, knock._

"Come in," the woman said, and so he did.

"Hi!" he said, leaning against the door frame and throwing her a feverish look. "How are you today?"

"I'm… I'm fine," Belle muttered, surprised at his laidback demeanor, and even more surprised when he sat next to her on her own bed. "And you?"

"Never been better," he replied, as he stretched his arms and winked at her. "Tell me, do you always stay in this room? Don't you ever go outside?"

"Uhn… I- I… I sometimes do," she answered, but lacking a great deal of confidence.

"Have you… _remembered_ anything lately?" he asked in a whisper, as he rendered his mind a complete blank. His feelings were carefully locked somewhere else, and at that moment he was not Baelfire, he was not Neal Cassidy, he was not a son, not a father, _he was no one_.

He tilted his head with a predatory look on his eyes. _Now was his chance to get back at his father_. He would tell her what kind of man she thought she was in love with, _in detail_. And he would make sure to include the old man's latest achievements.

"Not much, no," she replied, shaking her head and looking at her own hands. "But at least I remember your name, Baelfire" she said, with a beaming smile. "It must be really important, I usually never remember people's names, even if they say it a thousand times!"

_'Fuck.'_

He felt as if he had been slapped back to reality. So much for a badass façade.

"Oh," he said, after clearing his throat. "Is that so?"

"Yes," she answered, with an obvious note of sadness in her voice. "I wish I could remember more than that, though."

"Sometimes it's better not to," he replied, as he rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"That is not true," she said, with an unhappy smile. "You have no idea what it is like to have a big ball of nothing inside your head… To remember nothing… nobody… To be a stranger to yourself."

_'Right now, a 'big ball of nothing' inside my head sounds like a hell of a great idea,'_ Neal thought, as images from the last few days flashed before his eyes. He took a long, deep breath, and tried not to let his own issues become the focus of the conversation.

"You asked me if I ever go out," she continued, and her eyes seemed to fill with tears. "Do you know what happens when I do? I end up going to the same places all the time, and I have no idea why. I go to the café, I order a hamburger, and I sit there, _waiting._ The worst part? I have no idea what or who I'm waiting for. The library… the pawn shop…" she kept talking, and Neal felt a lump in his throat. That was his opportunity to tell the lady to run while she could, that whatever had happened between his father and her most certainly was nothing but a mistake.

And then she kept talking, and he realized his golden chance had passed.

"When I take my cell phone, and look at the calls I've made, the calls I've received, it's the same number. I tried calling that number once, and…" Neal looked at her, as a silent tear ran down her face. "I felt I knew that voice, but I couldn't remember who he was."

"Maybe your mind doesn't remember, but your heart does," he whispered, and immediately regretted doing so. Giving her that kind of advice was exactly the opposite of what he was in that room for. "Maybe you should just let it lead you, and then see where it goes," he shrugged, as he realized the lady crying next to him wasn't giving him any choice but to try and make her feel better. "Even if it makes no sense. Who cares, anyway? The folks in this town are all a bunch of nuts!"

He let out a faint smile, and so did she, wiping her tears away.

"Names… Things that happened… Things you've done to people, things people have done to you," he continued, "…in the end it doesn't matter. It's just what you feel that counts."

Neal suddenly realized he was lost in his own thoughts, and that was a place he couldn't afford to be. He couldn't handle all those memories, _all those feelings_ - he would have to tuck everything inside a box in some far corner of his heart and keep his mind vacant. He couldn't break. He _wouldn't_ break.

"But now, I'm not sure you should take advice from a man who can drop dead at any given moment," he said, trying to sound as detached as he could. "He might not be thinking straight." He then pointed to the bandage on his arm. "Fatal arm injury, if you have ever heard of one."

"I'm so sorry!" she whispered, covering her mouth after letting out a loud gasp.

"It's fine, really. I thought I would feel worse," he lied. He was doing the opposite of what he had just told Belle to do, he was simply ignoring the throbbing pain in his heart. He was not allowing himself to feel anything - fear, sorrow, anger, despair. _Nothing._

She then kissed him on the forehead, and he felt a pang in his heart.

"What was that for?" he asked, as warmth spread across his chest and he felt his badass façade had just cracked.

"I'm just following your advice," she answered, smiling.

* * *

Neal made sure to keep staring at his own feet as he walked to the dining hall, after leaving the dark-haired woman's room.

"Neal?" said Emma, who apparently was waiting for him by the hall entry door.

He slowly raised his eyes to her face, and had to make an effort not to let her panicked expression get to him. _'So the reports have already begun…'_ he thought, as he once again lowered his eyes to the floor and walked past her.

"We have t-"

"No, Emma," he interrupted, as she tried to catch up with him. "I'm sorry, but I can't do this now. I'll talk to you later, I promise."

As he spoke, he moved past the other people in the room and silently took a seat far from everybody else. His heart was racing, and as much as he hated to talk to Emma like that, the truth was that he was having a hard time keeping himself together after receiving a death sentence that morning. If he heard her voice, and looked into her face, before he knew exactly what was in store for him now, he wouldn't have enough sanity left for that second meeting.

"So how much time do I have?" he asked, and even without raising his eyes from the table, he could sense all eyes were on him.

For seconds that felt and sounded like an eternity, no one said a thing.

"A year, a month, a week?" he asked again, still staring at the wooden surface of the table.

"Three days," answered the Blue Fairy.

"Three days?" he repeated, as he raised his desperate eyes to look at the fairy. He was absolutely sure his shock was evident in every single line of his face, and he felt his heart was about to burst out of his chest. He knew it was bad, but three days? That was nothing! What could he do in three days? He felt his throat was closing as he clutched the fabric of his pants with sweaty hands.

"We are already using the ingredients we have to produce a tonic, but no, it will not save you," the Blue Fairy continued, and Neal realized her voice seemed to tremble at the end of her sentence. "With the healings and the tonic, we may give you more time and slow down the curse, but how much time that will buy you is very hard to tell. I'm sorry."

He let his eyes wander to the other people in the room. Tinkerbell, for the first time in all the years Neal had known her, was clearly despondent as she stared at him. His father and Emma looked as stiff as two rocks as they stared into nothing. David held Emma's hand under his, and seemed positively devastated. Snow didn't even bother to hide her tears, as she rubbed her daughter's back.

"Where's Henry?" he asked. Sooner or later his son would have to know, after all.

"He's in the patio," Snow answered, as she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "With Astrid."

"Can I ask you not to tell him?" Neal whispered, as he again made sure to empty his mind and heart of any thought or feeling that could cloud his judgment. "I want to do it myself."

She only nodded in response, as more tears started falling from her eyes.

"So what happens now?" he asked, trying to dissipate the cloud of depression and sorrow what hovered over their heads. "Cora, Regina, the dagger… what is the next step?"

_'And what can be done in 3 days?'_ he thought of adding.

"Regina was seen in town again," Tinkerbell answered, as she ran a hand over her hair and her eyes moved from his face to the other people in the room. "I suggest we proceed to destroy the dagger immediately."

"Again, may I remind you, Tinkerbell" said the Blue Fairy, as she slowly moved her head towards the other fairy, "that this task is nowhere as easy as it seems? Not to mention that we don't even have the weapon that can indeed destroy it?"

"I think I know a way," the other fairy responded, as her eyes once again met Neal's. "A way to get that weapon back. I've been thinking about it."

"Weapon?" asked Charming. "What weapon?"

"Even if we do," said the Blue Fairy. "Destroying the dagger would have other… _consequences,_" she then looked at Rumplestiltskin, and Neal couldn't help but notice that for the first time his father was not looking at the fairy with contempt, but resignation.

"Consequences?" again, Charming tried to get some clarification. "Can an-"

"Just tell me one thing," said Neal, narrowing his eyes. "If I destroy the dagger, do I destroy _him?_"

He pointed at his father, who was now looking at him with a pained expression.

"You don't have to do this, Baelfire…" said the Blue Fairy, avoiding his gaze.

"_Yes or no?_" Neal asked, and he felt his face was on fire.

"We can always-"

"YES OR NO?" he yelled. His voice echoed across the hall and once again, everyone else was silent.

"Yes," the Blue Fairy said at last.

The Charmings looked crushed by the revelation; even Emma now seemed on the verge of tears. Neal, on the other hand, simply stared at the ceiling, and broke into a fit of laughter.

"Of course," he said, as his nervous laughter slowly died away and he closed his eyes and breathed into his hands. "Of course."

"Maybe if Belle regained her memories," the Blue Fairy said, "she could break his curse with True Love's K-"

"Oh please!" Neal interrupted. "Is this why you brought her here? Another piece of your plan, to use her to break my father's curse?" he screamed. "And you come and talk about True Love, are you kidding me? What do _you_ know about love?"

"You're right," the Blue Fairy whispered. "What do I know."

"I think it's time, Reul Ghorm," asked Tinkerbell, looking at the other fairy with a knowing smile, and Neal was not sure he liked the silent messages those two were exchanging. He didn't want to learn anything about anyone anymore; lately, every time he did, it hurt like fuck. "Tell them."


	24. Chapter 24: A tale of love and loss

**_A/N: This part of the story ended up much longer than I had initially planned, so I'm breaking it in two chapters. The first will focus on Reul Ghorm and her tale, and yes, I'm having the Blue Fairy borrow a line that is originally Neal's in Manhattan. It just seemed to make an awful lot of sense under the circumstances, so if you were as blown away by MRJ's delivery of that line as much as I was, please try your best not to consider what I wrote a heresy, lol. I should point out that when it comes to the Blue Fairy, I took advantage of a theory that has been circulating the net for some time now: the whole idea just seemed far too good to pass up and I just felt I had to develop it. Thanks so much for your reviews, please keep posting them!_**

* * *

**_ Chapter 24: A tale of love and loss_**

"Do you want me to do it?" Tinkerbell asked, as the Blue Fairy stared at the table in silence.

"Violet," the other fairy said to a nun who was keeping guard by the door. "Will you please call Nova? And stay with the boy, it will not take long."

In the meantime, the only sound that permeated the air in the stifling dining hall was a distant female voice singing as she played the harp.

"_Cymbeline_," whispered the Blue Fairy. "Oh, Guinevere… you always know what to play."

"Have you called me?" asked Astrid, as she entered the room, looking at Mother Superior with a puzzled look on her eyes.

"I have," the Blue Fairy responded. "Take a seat, Nova. Tinkerbell will tell a story that I think you should hear."

"His name was Raphael Infante," the fairy from Neverland said, and her gaze turned distant, as if she was getting into a trance. "And he walked this earth a very, very long time ago.

"At that time, the wars that swept the land were not against outsiders, or evil magical beings. Men fought for their lives, as very few held far too much power, and far too many had nothing to live with.

"There was no official ruler. There were no official _rules_. There were only those who killed, and those who got killed. Those who plundered, and those who starved. Having crops meant very little, since you should also have the means to defend yourself from those who feared nothing and no one, those who would come at night and burn down your shacks, murder your elders, take away your daughters.

"Those were hard times to live, and at that time the first fairies ever to exist had to make a stand. They could ignore the battles, fight them in favor of the winners, or protect those who suffered. And this one fairy, _the first one ever to exist_, she chose to fight for what she believed was right.

"She would use her magic to protect those who needed it, providing them with shelter, food, antics in which enemies would be deceived and led into error. She was the most passionate being in the entire realm, and nothing or no one could match her in power or drive.

"But not all fairies were the same, and many of them chose very different paths. Some left to create their own realms, others made themselves unattainable to the human race…

"And men, men were not the same, either. There was this young boy who had grown seeing pain and sorrow and death and anger and loss… Yet, his heart had remained pure. When he was of age, he made a promise he would not let his family starve, nor anyone who were too weak to protect themselves.

"So he took on to fighting those who only brought wretchedness and destruction upon others, and soon enough he was known all over the land, as the one who would steal from the powerful to benefit the weak. Needless to say, he was sworn to death by too many a man, and one day, he was captured, tortured, and condemned to burning at the stake.

"But the Original Power would not let evil prevail, so she intervened just as he was about to be killed before the eyes of an avid crowd of atrocious men. She killed his executioners, and took him away so that she could tend his wounds and heal him.

"The more she cared for him, the more attached to him she became. She grew fond of his compassionate heart and of his bravery. He did not want revenge against those who had nearly killed him; the only thing he wanted was to make sure he would be able to protect others from his grievous fate.

"And so, once his injuries had healed, they fought many other battles together. They saved many lives, and brought happiness, and hope, and courage, to people and places that had only known darkness. They were inseparable.

"But one day, after many blessed ones, she gazed longingly at him, and realized he was not as agile as before, that his head was whitening, and his voice was of a man who had lived many years and seen too much. With a pang in her heart, she realized he was _getting old_, and she, bound by her magic, was never to age.

"In despair, she looked for a fairy who had departed that land long ago to create her own realm, a realm in which people would never grow old, and would never know heart break. In her hope, she thought she could learn how to make time stop so that he would be with her forever.

"Alas, the other fairy sadly reminded that all magic comes with a price, and the one that she had to pay in order to stop time in that new realm was a very high one. She took the Original Power's hand, and placed it over her empty chest, where no heartbeat could be felt. In shock, the fairy realized that if she wanted to stop time _and_ keep her heart, she had come to the wrong place.

"But the merciless hand of time hovered dangerously over their heads, and in her despair not to lose the man she loved, she did something that no fairy should ever do, something that only much later she would realize would charge a dreadfully high fee: she shared her magic with him, and _made him immortal_.

"Time went by, and they could fight many other battles, save many more lives. But something started happening to him. His courageous eyes were slowly tainted by a malign gleam of anger as he became more vicious in combat, killing their enemies with no mercy. His voice no longer had the compassion she had grown so fond of, and the man he once was gradually gave way to another, corrupted by power, a heartless one, whose powers were as strong as hers.

"Once again, she looked for that fairy in the distant realm, tormented by fear and sorrow, looking for a way to undo her horrible mistake.

"_'I cannot make him the man he was before'_, the other fairy said. _'But I can forge a weapon to rid him of his powers. Alas, it will rid him of his life as well.'_

"And so it was that the Original Power returned to their land with a dagger that could end his torment, and hers. When the deed was done, all the evil that had corrupted the man she had once loved was captured into that blade, and his spirit was finally set free."

Tinkerbell stopped and blinked, awakening from the trance.

"You ask me what I know of love?" the Blue Fairy said quietly, after a long minute in which nobody said a word. "Do you know what is the last thing I see before I go to sleep, for more years that any of you can imagine? I see him revert to his old self, his eyes full of bravery and love, _dying_ in my arms, as I killed him with that dagger," she said. "If there is one thing I know about True Love, Baelfire, is that it is _forever_," she continued, smiling sadly, "…and so is regret," she completed, turning her head to look at Rumplestiltskin.

As he listened to Reul Ghorm's words, Neal didn't know what to think. That little narrative had given him so much to think of that his mind seemed to have been caught in a tornado.

He knew he should be telling her how sorry he was for her loss. He also felt slightly disturbed by the fact that Tinkerbell, of all people, did not have a heart. He knew the two fairies had created the Dark One's dagger, and that seemed particularly important. But at that moment, he just couldn't take his eyes off Emma, as he mentally repeated what Reul Ghorm had said about true love.

He wished she would stop staring at the table and look at him, and _he would know_. He would know through her eyes whether that was true, whether they were forever or not. He needed _so much_ to believe that…

Tinkerbell kept looking at Nova with an intrigued look in her eyes as tears ran down the other fairy's face, and at that moment she knew the message had gotten through.

She wondered, however, if it had been _the right one_.

Rumplestiltskin and Reul Ghorm kept looking at each other, and although neither of them would invite each other for tea any time soon, they seemed to have bonded in those last minutes, as if the two of them knew exactly what would happen next, and felt terribly sorry about it.


	25. Chapter 25: More mistakes are revealed

_**A/N: Here it is. Finally, finally, Shang is brought into the conversation and Neal learns something big about his family. BelleChic, I should say I wrote Neal and Emma and Henry and Neal this morning, and I can hardly wait to post that chapter (which is # 27). Since I have to finish Chapter 26 before I actually do that, bear with me! I promise it will be out either tomorrow or Tuesday, and it will be worth the wait. Thanks again to all of you who read, follow and review for all your continuous support!**_

* * *

_**Chapter 25: More mistakes are revealed**_

"Well…" said Charming, as he looked at Snow with sorrow in his eyes and voiced what everyone else wanted to say. "I don't know what to say."

"Sad as the story may be," replied the Blue Fairy, regaining her usually neutral composure. "The reason why this topic was brought up is that, since the Dark One's Dagger was created by fairies, then one would imagine fairies would know how to destroy it."

"Please say you do," Neal whispered, unable to stop himself. The last thing he needed was to find out that the whole story was just another way to say they were all screwed because after all that time, the fairy team had realized the damn thing could not be destroyed. "By the way, sorry to ask, but how come you just left that knife hanging around after seeing what it does to people? Why didn't you destroy it when you still had it with you?"

"That was the plan," answered Tinkerbell. "Reul Ghorm was supposed to bring me back the dagger once the deed was done. But grief is a bad counselor, and instead of me, she searched someone else to dispose of the knife."

"A very bad decision, indeed," Reul Ghorm replied. "I did not want to relive the dreadful moments that had led to his death, so I thought I could simply make the dagger disappear in Vivien's Lake. Another mistake that now I see charged another very high fee."

"The stupid bitch ended up giving the dagger to Merlin, and then…" Tinkerbell said, and despite the seriousness of the situation, Neal couldn't help but smile at her foul language. "Well, the whole tradition of the Dark One's Curse took its course. We never got our hands on that dagger again, and it kept moving around destroying people's lives."

"But you do know how to destroy it, right?" Neal repeated, once again fearing the answer.

"I do," she replied, with a triumphant smile. "Neverland is renowned for its magical weapons, and I'm glad to say that forging them is my most remarkable ability. I created what you could call, _the most powerful blade in all the realms._"

"Mulan," Emma whispered, turning to look at her mother. "She has that sword, I remember, I asked her to use it to cut the beanstalk!"

"Well, _almost_," Tinkerbell said, narrowing her eyes. "The sword Mulan has is indeed a very powerful one with outstanding magical abilities, one of the finest I've produced, but it has a major flaw," she said, as she scratched her nose. "While it can destroy magical objects, it absorbs its properties, at least a fraction of it. No wonder that Mulan girl is as nutty as a fruitcake… I'm sure the blade took its toll on her."

"What… what do you _mean?_" asked Snow. "From what I can remember, Mulan is an extraordinary fighter, and a very loyal one at that!"

"Of course she is, don't get me wrong," Tinkerbell replied, with a sneer on her lips. "But it still takes a lunatic to leave a man like Shang to play puppy love with Prince Phillip."

"I'm sorry," said Neal, as he wrinkled his forehead and blinked. "I might have gotten lost somewhere between the beanstalk, Mulan the fruitcake and these two you have just mentioned."

"Details,_ shmetails_, my beloved cursed warrior," Tinkerbell answered with a fiery gleam in her eyes, as she stood up and walked across the hall, deeply immersed in her own thoughts. "Powerful as fairies might be, they are still unable to stop pillage and people leaving their domains, so I have to tell you that not all the weapons created in Neverland stay in Neverland," she told him, making sure to illustrate each sentence with theatrical gestures. "The sword Mulan has today had been lost for many years, until it reappeared in the fascinating realm of China along with its enhanced version, one that I had worked day and night to improve, and one that I am proud to say I succeeded in perfecting _to its limit!_" she exclaimed delightfully, and then leaned against Neal, staring deeply into his eyes. "One that could destroy even the darkest of all dark objects tainted by evil magic, one what would destroy the object _and_ its magic essence, _the truly invincible blade._"

"And where is it now?" Neal asked, less than entertained by the whole tale.

"With its rightful owner, Mulan's husband," she said simply, as she took her seat again. "Captain Shang of the Providence, now sailing somewhere between Storybrooke and Neverland."

A faint round of gasps and whispers followed her words, but Neal was having none of it.

"And how do I get to him?" he asked, again. It seemed _way too easy_ to be true.

"Ah," Tinkerbell's pupils dilated and her voice lost its enthusiasm. "You see, now that is the catch."

"What a surprise…" Neal moaned with disdain.

"Even if we found a way to open a portal for you to get to where Shang is, and I believe it can be done, as I will later explain, the Providence cannot cross the sea to jump realms."

"Wait," Neal said, remembering something now that the whole ship talk was brought into the conversation. "Hook has a ship as well, right? And apparently he could sail from and to Neverland more than once, and to other realms, right?" he said, since the man had been with his mother in the FairyTale Land that was, and was now back in Storybrooke, and had been in Neverland in between. "_How?_ I mean, why can he do it, but not Shang?"

Tinkerbell closed her eyes and drew in a long breath. Neal took that opportunity to look around, and realized that everyone else was at the edge of their seats, as eager as he was for an answer, except for his father, whose face was contorted in pain and anger.

"Oh please, not again," Neal whispered, as his heart started racing at the thoughts that were beginning to crowd his mind. "Don't tell me you have something to do with this as well."

"Shang cannot cross the seas to another realm because of Ursula," said Tinkerbell, still with her eyes closed.

"No," whispered Rumplestiltskin.

"Who is Ursula?" Neal asked, and he really wished his heart would calm itself down.

"No," the older man repeated.

"Will you tell him, or should I, Rumplestiltskin?" the fairy asked, after finally opening her eyes again.

"NO!" Rumplestiltskin screamed, and the windows shattered at his rage. "He is not going anywhere near her, there must be another way!"

"There is no other way, you foolish old man!" Tinkerbell had bared her teeth and was now staring at him with a maniacal expression on her face. "Now will you tell him, or should I?"

"I can't," he said, and much to everyone else's shock, tears started running down his face.

"You can," the fairy whispered, and her eyes were suddenly full of sorrow. "He is _your son_, he deserves to learn it from you."

The old man now looked like a faint shadow of the arrogant imp that had terrorized so many people in his life. He looked small, old, scared and profoundly damaged as he cried, and Neal noticed with a lump in his throat that Emma had reached out to hold _his_ father's hand.

_'Oh Emma,'_ he thought, as he made sure to remain indifferent to the scene unfolding before his eyes. _'You're a better person than I will ever be…'_

"Your mother left you, Bae, to be with Hook," he said, keeping his eyes on the table. "She left you when you were just a child!"

Neal kept glancing at his father as he braced himself for the worst. Now more than ever he had to keep all his feelings under wraps, or he would end up doing something awful.

"Many years later, I met Hook again, and he told me she had died," he continued. "But she hadn't. I saw her and I was… I was _so angry,_ Bae."

"And what did you do?" Neal asked, his voice, face and heart completely void of any emotion.

"She had abandoned you, Bae, she had chosen to live with a pirate…"

"_What did you do?_" Neal repeated the question, showing nothing but apathy.

More tears fell from his father's eyes, and he realized he was not going to get an answer to his question. He looked at the ceiling, and felt that if he opened his mouth to say what he thought his father had done, he would throw up, instead. _It couldn't be true_.

He lowered his glance to his father's eyes, and then noticed that, given the desperate look in the man's face,_ it might as well be_.

"You killed her," Neal said, and he felt as if his whole body had been pierced with sharp knives when his father did not deny it.

"Bae, I-"

"_You killed her?_" Neal asked, and he knew he had started shaking as all the emotions boiling inside of him threatened to get the best of him.

"I regretted it right away, Bae!" Rumplestiltskin's weak voice seemed to fade under the crushing weight of his guilt. "And I tried to bring her back, but things went wrong, Bae, _so wrong_!"

Neal just kept breathing into his hands as he looked at his father in disbelief, his forehead wrinkled in apprehension as he knew that the details to that part of the story would probably hurt more than he could take.

"Her body had been cast into the ocean, and I went back for it, and I worked day and night to perform a ritual that would bring her back to life! Then, one day, I did it, Bae, I was able to bring her back, but she was _nothing_ like your mother… I, I am _so sorry,_ son!"

"You're _sorry?_" Neal repeated, as he blinked and swallowed. "You turned my mother into some sort of… _monster_, and you say _you're sorry?_" he asked, feeling that those words had drained whatever energy he had left. His lungs were filling with water, and he knew he would drown. He had to empty his mind of all the horrible images that were flashing before his eyes. "So what the fuck does that mean? That this Ursula is my mother? That I will run into her if I try to find Shang?"

"She will claim you," Tinkerbell said, at last, as Rumplestiltskin covered his face and shook his head.

"She will _what?_" Neal asked, as breathing became a nearly impossible task.

"When your father tried to bring her back to life and failed," the fairy explained, "and she found herself locked in a cursed form of semi-life, she promised to unleash her fury upon all seven seas, until the day she was reunited with her son. So if you run into her…"

"_...she will take me with her_," Neal completed, in a whisper.

"You can't go, Bae" Rumplestiltskin said, as his voice shook with grief and despair. "Please, son! We'll find another way! I can't let you pay for my mistakes!"

"It's what I've been doing since you became the Dark One," Neal answered, and he felt his head was light. It felt so good… _so peaceful._ All the voices inside his mind were now quiet. _A big ball of nothing._

"Neal," Emma had approached him, and pressed something to his nose.

When he looked down, he understood why. Blood had started spilling from it and was dripping down onto the table, just like the cut in his arm, which seemed to have reopened as crimson drenched his sleeve.


	26. Chapter 26: The crossroads of time

**_A/N: Thanks for your reviews and messages! You're all great! I'm glad you're curious to see where all of this is going; I'm really excited to get to the chapter where mother and son will meet again. Here is Chapter 26, in which Baelfire starts to break as he tries to apologize to a family member, the Charmings are an emotional mess and so is Rumplestiltskin, as he meets Belle again in a bittersweet "déjà vu" moment in his pawn shop. Be warned, angst ahead! _**

* * *

**_Chapter 26: The crossroads of time_**

"I'm fine," said Emma, as soon as the two fairies and her father had left the dining hall to carry Neal back to his cell. Her mother had risen from her chair and reached for her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I'm fine, I just…"

She kept repeating that in a feeble attempt to convince herself that Neal's misfortune had nothing to do with her. If he was experiencing pain, well, she had experienced pain as well. And it was not as if the two of them had anything anymore, they both had gone their separate ways and clearly there was nothing to go back to.

But he was still Henry's father, and she felt bad for the kid, after all. At least, that's what she kept telling herself when she realized her heart was about to break into a million pieces.

"Emma…" Snow whispered, looking at her with sadness. "You don't have to lie to me."

Emma felt the corners of his eyes prickling, and she had to avoid her mother's gaze. She couldn't break. She _wouldn't_ break.

"You're right, I'm not fine," she said, with a strange smile across her face. "And you know why? Because every time I look at him, the only thing I remember is that _he left me_. He never looked for me. And after I had given him everything, I was left _alone!_" the tears she had so bravely held back were now falling from her eyes. "You know what's worse? Before him, I had no idea what if felt like to be loved, to make plans, to have a home, even if that home was just a stolen car. I never thought life could be better," she kept saying, despite the fact her voice was now trembling. "Do you know what it feels like to have all your dreams ripped away from you at once? That's just what he did, and I could never forgive him for that."

She didn't fight back when her mother put her arms around her; instead, she just hugged Snow as tightly as she could, as if holding on to her not to fall into a dark pit of sorrow.

"And now he's dying, and I still can't!" she choked. "He's dying, and it hurts so much, but I can't forget… _I can't._"

There was so much Snow wanted to tell her daughter about forgetting and forgiving, but she was not sure any of it would get past all that sadness and pain. She remained quiet, trying to comfort a sobbing Emma as she sunset slowly set in.

* * *

"There he goes," said Charming, as he lowered an unconscious Neal onto the bed. "Is it always going to be like this, from now on? The blackouts, the bleeding…?"

"The potion will make things better," the Blue Fairy said, as she pointed her wand to the injury on the other man's arm. "It will restore much of his energy, and hinder the effects of the curse on his organism. But I'm afraid that is pretty much it."

Charming kept looking at Rumplestiltskin's son, and his heart felt heavier as he remembered the string of unfortunate events that had fallen upon that side of the family. Now he understood, at least partially, why Neal's eyes always seemed to show a shadow of sorrow, even when he smiled. The kid was obviously broken, and so was Rumplestiltskin, though that did not excuse him for having murdered the mother of his own kid. It was horrible, really, to think that anyone would have to go through so much pain… Charming himself had had a fatherless childhood, but at least he had a mother who had given him emotional comfort and love… Then he thought about Emma, and hard as it was, he had to admit Rumplestiltskin was right when he said he was doing a lousy job as a parent. Not only had he sent her away 28 years ago to live a life of loneliness and hardship, but he also had been unable to bond with his daughter since they reunited… Truth was, _he had no idea what he was doing_. He didn't know how to be a father to Emma. Perhaps he would end up sharing the title of "worst father of the year" with Rumplestiltskin, after all.

_'I should invite him for a beer…'_ he thought, raising his eyebrows, completely oblivious to the fact a couple of other fairies had entered the cell and were now waiting for him to leave to take care of Neal.

"The potion is ready," announced one of them.

Her voice brought Charming back to reality, and when he looked at Neal again, he realized that the other man had already lifted himself to a sitting position. He was awfully pale, but at least the cut was no longer bleeding and he seemed to be breathing better.

"I'll go with you," said Charming. "To find Shang. I'll go with you, when you're ready."

The fairies looked at each other, and Neal just glanced down at his legs, with a sad smile, and Charming couldn't help but wonder what exactly was going on his mind.

"It can be done, right?" he asked Tinkerbell. "You said you can open a portal, so I can join him."

"Well," she answered. "There is no magical restriction, so I guess you can."

"Thanks," said Neal, with a pale smile. "Really, thanks so much."

Charming smiled back, trying to reassure his son-in-law. Then he frowned; _technically,_ Neal _wasn't _his son-in-law. He wasn't his _anything._

He shrugged. He couldn't possibly care less about those formalities.

"But _no_."

Tinkerbell raised her eyebrows at Neal's words, and so did Chaming.

"Can you ladies give us a moment?" Neal asked, still looking at Emma's father with a mix of shame and gratitude. "Oh, and Tinkerbell?"

"Yes?" the fairy was about to leave the room when Neal's voice made her turn around on her heels.

"Do you think you can go to my place in Manhattan and grab me some stuff? I kind of made a list earlier today," he searched his pockets as he spoke. "Here."

"Ok," she replied, as she picked up the crumpled piece of paper and turned to leave.

"Oh, wait," Neal said, with an alarmed look on his face. "My keys, I don't remember where they are!"

"Seriously, kid?" she asked, giving him a skeptic look. "Do you _really_ think _I_ need keys?"

"Right," he said, with a weak grin on his lips, as he remembered who he had learned his lock picking skills from. "Of course you don't."

When the two men were finally alone in the room, Neal swallowed and blinked. He had never gotten the chance to apologize to the Charmings for all the mess he had caused, for all the unhappiness he had brought to their daughter, for abandoning their grandson, even though he could say in his defense he had no idea Henry existed until a few days ago.

Meeting them, and realizing what wonderful parents they were, and how much time and love they seemed to invest in their daughter now that they were together again, made him feel even worse. If it hadn't been for him, there wouldn't have been a curse, to begin with. Indirectly, he had been the reason why their family had been torn apart, and he should apologize for that, as well.

He didn't even know where to start. The sadness he had tried so hard to ignore all those years now threatened to devour him, as he once again felt he was 14 years old, alone in a new world, and missed his father, his family, so bad.

"Baelfire?" Charming asked, realizing that the man in front of him seemed to be drowning in memories, but not very good ones.

_'Baelfire.'_

He closed his eyes and let that name wash over him. His life had finally caught up with him, and now there was no point holding on to a fake name, a fake existence, a fake set of memories that he had managed to produce even without being hit by the curse. He was Baelfire again, back at that land, so many years later, to face his father, to face _his past_.

He had two days to live and sort it all out. And it scared the hell out of him.

"Baelfire?" Charming asked again, pulling the chair to sit closer to him. "What is it?"

Bae then realized that his knuckles were white as he clutched the blanket covering his legs, and that his eyesight was awfully blurred, but this time not because of the curse.

"You have to stay," he said at last, as he swallowed and blinked back the tears. "Take care of your wife, and Emma," he cleared his throat to steady his voice. "And Henry, I can't risk him losing his father and his grandfather at once," he continued, even though his voice was no more than a whisper. "You have to be there for them, if I can't."

He wanted to raise his eyes from his own hands to look at David, but he felt far too guilty for all the pain he had caused to that family to do so.

If he did, he would have realized the other man's eyes were also glistening with sorrow.

* * *

There had to be something in that damn store that he could use to save his son.

As Rumplestiltskin emptied the contents of the last drawer onto the floor, only to smash it against one of the glass counters, he looked at the pile of broken objects and dust that used to be his pawn shop and his mind drew a total blank.

There was no point. _There was nothing he could do_.

In his rage, he had used his own fist to break the other counters, and wished his bleeding hands would hurt more than his smashed heart. He looked at the cuts as blood ran through them, and tears of self-loathe burned his face not for the first time that day.

_It was all his fault._

Magic had been his crutch, one that he couldn't walk without. He hadn't let it go when he had the chance, and now it was charging its price, one that he just couldn't bring himself to pay.

His son was going to die, and it was _his fault_.

There was nothing that he wouldn't do to find a cure to his boy's curse, there was nothing that he wouldn't do to bring him that sword without having him sail the seas and be claimed by his own mother. His knee faltered and he had to lean against the nearest wall not to fall when he fully realized the extension of the damage he had caused.

It was clear by then that Baelfire would never forgive him for the awful things he had done, and he deserved it. He deserved not to be forgiven. _He deserved to be destroyed with that dagger._ Maybe, after all, he would never have the chance to be a father to him again, and he could deal with that. It was turning his heart into dust, but even that was a low price to pay.

Now, having his son die because of his own mistakes, that was a much more cruel fate, one that was driving him deeper into madness as each minute passed, one that he just couldn't _accept._

He needed _time_. Time to think of a counter curse, time to go after a way to stop death. He needed _time_, and _that_ was exactly what he didn't have.

Footsteps slowly approached him and only when the dark-haired woman stopped by his side did he realize he was not alone in the wrecked mess that used to be his pawn shop.

"I'm afraid the shop's c-" he made to say, too tired to curse or yell, and his voice died on his throat when he recognized her face.

For a second, Belle did not know what to say, and felt an urge to run. Her blue eyes showed signs of distrust, but she was determined to follow Baelfire's advice and just let her heart lead her, even if nothing made sense.

"I'm sorry if it's a bad time," she whispered, as she looked down at the small basket she was holding. "But I hear your son is sick, so I brought you some… some things that may help."

Rumplestiltskin looked from her confused face to the basket, and saw some fruits and little bottles carefully put together. He felt more tears scalding his skin, as he now remembered that not long ago, she had come to that same shop, with the same blank look in her eyes, but at that time, he knew it was a matter of time until she remembered him again.

Now, as he stared into her eyes in silence, he realized _she too was gone_. He had lost her.

"Oh Belle…" he whispered, as he felt his heart would soon stop beating after receiving that final blow. "My beloved Belle…"

She didn't know why he was crying.

She didn't know why _she_ was crying.

All she knew, as she held that man in her arms, was that her heart felt strangely at home.


	27. Chapter 27: Tallahassee

**_A/N: And here is Chapter 27, in which Neal gets to say his goodbyes to Rumplestiltskin and Emma. I've left his teary daddy moment with Henry for chapter 28, so hold on tight!_**

**_I have to say that his interaction with Emma is one of the scenes I like best in Ashes. It was great to write it, and I found it very raw, very authentic, as he finally let all his anger out. He is angry at himself, mostly, more than he is at his father, I dare say. And he is sad. All these things pour out as he says goodbye and it's so intense that it almost turned out to be a NC-17 oneshot, lol. But I guess I managed to get my mind out of the gutter before it was too late. Thanks for your wonderful messages, please keep on making this insane writer a happy person and review!_**

* * *

**_Chapter 27: Tallahassee _**

Baelfire had to tip his hat to the fairy team. 48 hours to go, and he had woken up feeling brand new.

_'Blessed be all the magic potions of the Kingdom…'_ he thought, as he continued to shave, studying his own face in the mirror. He even looked… _healthy._ _'Guess I could even get myself a soul patch… see how it goes…'_

He stopped, and had to laugh at himself for thinking about facial hair as he prepared for the trip that would lead him back to his mother, and to his _own end_. That is, if he managed to get past the pirates first. They hadn't talked about that yet. _The pirates._ They surely wouldn't be waiting for him with ribbons and a welcome cake.

It was comic to even think of walking up to that Shang dude, asking for his sword, and expect nothing other than to have his own ass handed to him before he even explained his reasons.

"A plan with so many things that can go wrong…" he whispered to his own reflection, "…can only go right, I suppose."

"You decent?" Tinkerbell asked, after knocking on his door.

"Come see for yourself," he replied, cleaning the foam from his face with a towel.

"Got your stu-" she began, and her jaw dropped slightly at his sight. He was wearing dark denim pants, boots, and a navy blue V-neck T-shirt that fitted him perfectly. The cut on his arm was covered by a black armband and his hair was carefully disheveled. "That is more than decent, you sassy thang," she answered, putting a hand on her waist and wiggling her hips. "That is dressed to kill!"

"Mo' like dress'd to be kill'd, y'mean ," he replied, trying to concoct some sort of Cajun accent approximation. "If ah'm goin' down, 'm goin' down wit' style."

The fairy cracked up laughing as she put the box she was carrying over the table.

"Now hear this. These," he said, as he laughed as well, pointing at his own clothes. "Borrowed from Emma's father. How 'bout dat? Her _father._"

"Gotta say, that's some family you got yourself, brother," Tinkerbell said, as she sat on the floor and waited for him to join her. "Good to see you're feeling better."

"Well," he answered, as he scratched the back of his neck and picked up the box, before sitting on the floor in front of her. "I have to say the thing about my mother was a blow below the waist."

"I know," she replied, realizing that his eyes had lost some of his shine and his voice had turned serious. "I'm sorry, Bae. I really am."

"Yeah…" he whispered back. "I've been trying not to think much about it. I don't even remember what she looks like."

"Which reminds me…" she said, as she leaned against the wall and stretched her arms. "I've run into Hook this morning."

"What?" Neal asked, as memories of his encounter with the pirate rushed before his eyes.

"Ok, maybe… _Maybe_ I actually found him on purpose," she continued, looking at her fingers, with a devious smile. "I wanted to squeeze something out of him about Milah, something that could help you when you met her."

Hearing his mother's name made his skin crawl, and Neal shifted uncomfortably as he prepared to ask, not really wanting to know.

"And?"

"Nothing," she replied.

Neal shrugged. It was not as if he needed help from the man his mother had run away with, anyways.

"He doesn't remember her," she said, and her lips curled even more in a cold smile.

"What do you mean?" Neal asked, confusion showing in his voice. "I thought he-"

"You thought right, he was in love with her. _Madly._ But he doesn't remember anything about her anymore. You should see his face when I asked," she said, as she crossed her arms and stared at him. "Man looked like a real crackbrain. Doesn't even know what he is in Storybrooke for."

"How?"

"Well, he did what he did to you, didn't he?" Tinkerbell said, as she pointed at Neal's arm. "He enacted the curse. And all magic…"

"_…comes with a price_," he finished, his eyes distant. "Tell me about it."

"But anyway," said Tinkerbell, after realizing she was ruining his initially cheerful mood by bringing magic into the conversation. "I gotta ask you something. You work in Wall Street, right?"

"I'd probably put that verb in the past tense," he replied, fully aware that his unexcused absences in the last few days by now meant he was no longer in the payroll. "But yes, I worked in Wall Street. Why?"

"How come you ended up in that hole-in-wall apartment?" she asked.

"It's Manhattan, _fille,_" he answered, with a smile beginning to curl his lips. "How much do you think rent is?"

"Yeah, right," she replied, as she stretched her leg to kick his foot. "I mean, don't get me wrong, the décor is nice and all, but seriously, I'm starting to think you were either a very bad stockbroker or a very bad spender."

"Really?" he asked, as he wrinkled his forehead and gave her an amused look. "What if I tell you I wasn't either?"

"How much did you make?"

"Around 10K a month," he answered, and his words were followed by a whistle.

"Then you were a decent broker," she said. "Big spender, then? Gambling? Partying?" her lips curled in a devious grin. _"Women?"_

"I invested some money in stocks, and…," he replied while opening the box that had been lying between them, and rummaged through its contents until he found a brown envelope. He then picked it up and threw it to her.

"What is this?" she asked, as her eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"That," he said, as his eyes also seemed to go brighter by the moment. "That is the answer to your question. Open it."

And she did.

"Shut up!" Tinkerbell exclaimed, as she pulled out a picture and stared at it in disbelief. "Is this yours?"

"Paid in cash."

"Sweet!" she put the picture back inside the envelope, with a smile splattered across her face. "You gonna leave it all to her and the kid?"

"Everything." When he said that word, his heart seemed to beat faster. "But I still think she might just take the keys, shove them up my nose, and tell me to go take a walk."

"Don't think so," Tinkerbell replied. "She loves you."

"I walked out on her," he said.

"People make mistakes," she shrugged. "Some are worse than others, that's all."

He let out a sigh. There was no point debating it now. He pulled out the pendant she had given him at the Charmings, and felt his heartbeat was racing again, as if clinging to the memories that now filled his mind.

"Now I only have to figure out how to put the keys into… a pendant," he whispered.

"Let me see it," Tinkerbell said, as she took it from his hands. She spent some time looking at it, and then returned it to him, shrugging. "Nope, I have no idea."

It was a keychain again.

* * *

_It was time._

He watched through the window of his cell as the Charmings arrived at the Convent, and wiped his sweaty hands on his legs for the millionth time that day. He picked up the brown envelope, and rehearsed his lines mentally one more time. Smile, say you're sorry, give her the envelope, walk away. A clean job. No histrionics. Then go to Henry, give him the other package, repeat the process, leave.

He closed his eyes and drew in a long breath. It was simple. He could do it. He blinked, smoothed his T-shirt, and opened the door.

"Bae," his father was standing in front of him, with a maniac look on his face.

Neal tried to close the door, but the older man used his cane to keep it open.

"What do you want?" asked Neal, and soon realized he was fighting a lost battle, so the best way to finish it was simply to let his father into the room.

"We need to talk," Rumplestiltskin said. "I found something, son, I found something that might save you."

_'There we go again,'_ Neal thought, as he ran his hands over his hair and paced the room nervously. "You have three minutes," he said, without looking at his father's eyes.

"This is an ancient amulet that will protect you from death," he heard his father say, as he gave him what looked like a golden medallion necklace. "It can't actually stop it, but it can give you time to come back."

"What?" Neal asked, frowning.

"If you are wearing this when death is upon you, you will depart from the realm of the living, but will not immediately enter the realm of the dead," his father explained, and Neal was surprised at how he seemed to genuinely believe that the insanity leaving his lips was a great idea. "You will be in an intermediary zone for the time I need to go and rescue you!"

"Oh, really?" said Neal, too tired for all the magical shenanigans. "But you know, I'm just not feeling it. You want me to believe that _you_, of all people, will be there for me when I need you?"

"I can send Emma, if that-"

"Jesus! What is wrong with you?" he screamed, unable to contain his anger. "_Send Emma?_ Do you—See, that's why this, I mean you and me, this is why I can't. You don't even realize how cruel you are to people!"

Rumplestiltskin opened his mouth to speak, but his son was having none of it.

"So what's the plan, huh? What is the plan?" Neal hissed, as he stood a mere foot away from his father. "I "die", I get into the "zone", and then you threat Emma to death to get her to go and get me? Is that your plan?"

He shook his head, walking away from the older man.

"You know, I wish I could forgive you. I wish I could. Get rid of all this hate boiling inside of me, but you know what? I can't," he turned to look at his father again, and his eyes were cold. "I look at you and all I see is… All I see is a man that I don't want to be with, a man that _I don't_ _want to be like_."

"Bae!" Rumplestiltskin whispered, and his eyes seemed to fill up with tears. "Son, if only you knew the things I've done for you!"

"For me? _For me?_ Are you… Are you _kidding me?_" Neal yelled, as he unleashed his own torments upon his father. "_Nothing_ that you've ever done was about me. It was about _you!_"

And then he prepared for his final strike. It was his turn to hurt, and he would make sure the cut would run deep.

"You know that night? The night when I got this?" he tore away the armband as he lifted his injury to his father's eyes. "Hook was walking away when you started all that shit. You see my point? If it wasn't for you trying to get back at him that night, I wouldn't have _two days left to live now_. And you tell me you were thinking about _me?_" he yelled again. "And you tell me you were thinking about _me_ when you _killed my mother?_"

"She had abandoned you, Bae!" the older man replied with a weak, trembling whisper.

"You abandoned me too!" Neal made sure to pronounce each word with cruel clarity. "Then maybe you should die as well!"

"Maybe I should," Rumplestiltskin answered, not daring to look into his son's eyes.

Neal snorted, as he too lowered his head and put his hands on his waist. "You can keep it," he said at last, handing his father the medallion that seemed to burn on his hand. "I don't want any of your magic crap."

* * *

Emma Swan was walking towards the hall that led to the dormitories when a door slamming made her jump. She whipped her head around and saw Neal leave his room with pure fury in his eyes, and as she made to follow him, she walked past the room he was coming out of and saw Rumplestiltskin sitting on a chair, looking devastated.

"Neal!" she called, as the man kept marching towards the other wing of the building. "Neal, wait."

She saw him come to a halt, and moved closer to look at his face. "Tell me what happened," she said.

"What happened when?"

"Why do you hate him so much?"

Neal laughed, but without happiness.

"No," he answered, trying to avoid her eyes. "I don't have time for that."

"Neal..."

He slowly raised his eyes to hers, and felt his throat tighten when he saw the expression on her face.

"Emma, please. If you're here out of pity because I'm dying, just leave," he said, and his voice was hoarse and tired. "I don't need that, not from you. I understand we're over, _we're over_. You don't need to play loving ex-girlfriend."

"What?" She had to bite back a gasp at his crude words. "How can you say that?"

"Why are you surprised?" he exclaimed, and he knew his voice was full of despair and anger. "Emma, look at us. We don't know each other anymore," he said, and his words crawled under his skin and made him shudder, but he knew it was the truth. "You think you know me? _You don't._"

Before she could say anything, he continued.

"Listen, just, just listen. We met when I was in my "car stealing" moment, right? Stealing watches, stuff from convenience stores. But you know what I used to do before that? I would break into houses. And you know, it felt so _damn good_. It was just me and a lock, and the adrenaline, and the fear of getting caught. I didn't have to think. I didn't feel anything else. Now, you know why I moved from that to stealing cars? Because people wouldn't leave family photos hanging in a car. Yeah. When I broke into a house, I had to see them all over the place, and it made me so fucking pissed. Pictures of _families,_ Emma. Do have any idea how that sucked? " he paused to look into her eyes with an expression of shame, just to realize that she knew exactly what he was talking about. "You do. Fuck, of course you do…" he whispered, as he shook his head with an unhappy smile.

"I was no hero, Emma. I have never, _ever_ been a hero. You know what those people mean when they tell you that you're special? They mean, _useful._ You fit into their plans. I never felt special, I was a lie. I got myself this fake name, Neal Cassidy, the badass, and I lived the role. Lying all the damn time, never looking back."

"Was it a lie when we were together, too?" he saw Emma ask, and couldn't help but notice her chin was trembling.

"No," he answered, and he felt his heart was cracking at every word that left his mouth and at every sign of sadness on Emma's face. "Not with you. And it hurt like fuck, because I could feel, Emma. I could remember," he pinched his nose and swallowed. Now that he was at it, he might as well get the whole thing out in the open. "So, that night? When August told me to let you go? He reminded me of what I was, and of what I had become. A deadbeat. And there was this choice I had to make: a lie or the truth? The car thief or Rumplestiltskin's son? I chose Neal Cassidy. I chose the lie, and that was just because, the truth? I didn't want it. I couldn't," he said, feeling every word tear at his skin. "And I _let you go_."

He ran his hands over his hair and looked at the ceiling, trying to swallow back all the anger and regret biting at him.

"And then, for the next 11 years, I kept living a lie, pretending I didn't _care_. _Pretending _that I was over you. And you know what I realize now? I'm not husband material. I'm not father material, I'm not even son material! If everything goes well and my mother doesn't kill me, l get to come back to kill my own father, Emma! I mean…" he snorted, and again couldn't bring himself to look at her in the eyes.

"I'm really sorry things didn't work out between us. But honestly, how could they? I'm a mess, Emma. You can do so much better than me," he finally looked at her, and his eyes were a mix of disappointment and sorrow. "And so that you know… what happened between my father and I was that, we had a deal, and he broke it. Your parents left you to give you a chance, my father left me because all this magic crap meant more to him than I did. He abandoned me, he lied to me, and now I'm off to pay the ultimate price for his stupid mistakes. There," he said, as he blinked the tears away and tried not to show how much bringing all that up had cost him.

"I'm so sorry!" she whispered, and Neal noticed she seemed to be fighting back tears as well.

"Yeah. Me too," he answered, as he took a long, deep breath before continuing. That was not how he had expected that moment to be, and he felt he was about to be suffocated by all the feelings burning inside him. "Well, anyway. I need to give you this."

"I don't want the bug back," she muttered, as she picked up the keys and the brown envelope.

"These are not the keys to the bug, though of course the bug is still yours," he said. "I left its keys with your father."

"What is this?" she asked, staring into his eyes.

He swallowed, and again tried not to let regret and sorrow drag him back down.

"Our house," he whispered. "I… I bought us a house in Tallahassee," he then paused, as the last word echoed in his ears. "There's the deed… and the picture, in the envelope."

He kept his eyes on her face and breathed heavily as she opened the envelope and pulled out the picture. Then he laughed, nervously. "But now that I know how you must feel about that place after waiting for me there for two years, I guess… you can always sell it," he said, as tears fell from her eyes. "If you go there, it might be a little dusty, I used to drop by to care for it twice a month or so, but life got busy and…" The truth was not that life had gotten busy. He had stopped going to _their _house because he had realized that maybe there would never be a "they" again. "But anyway… you can sell it and buy a nice place for you and Henry. And about that, I- I have stocks, you can sell them too. This, this is," his hands were shaking as he searched his pocket for another envelope, knowing that he was actually handing her the pieces of their shattered dreams – a house, a family, a life together. "You should look for Elaine, I don't remember her phone number, but you can find her at 18 Broad Street, and give her this, she will help you out with the stocks. And with the papers for the house, I've written the password for my personal files. And… uh," his voice slowly died away. "I guess that's it."

He stuffed his hands back in his pockets, in a feeble attempt to look calm and collected as everything fell apart around him.

Emma felt she could no longer breathe as she looked into his eyes, and moved to hug him as words failed her, exactly when she needed them the most... She knew she should say something. She couldn't let him go in silence.

"You know, you're not the only one who waited," he said, and she heard his voice falter. Her tears were now running from her eyes as she buried her face on his shoulder, feeling so sorry for everything they could have been together, and that they would never have the chance, or the time, to be again. "I wanted to be a better man when we met again. I'm sorry it never worked out."

He then held her arms and took one step back. As he pressed his forehead to hers, she felt the heat of his skin on hers, and sobbed, digging her fingers around his waist.

"If only you knew how much I want to make love to you one last time," she heard him whisper, and her throat suddenly tightened. She knew her body was betraying her in so many ways as he pressed his body against hers, but yet she hoped he wouldn't notice as she opened her eyes to look at him. And then she realized he too was staring at her with a lost look in his eyes, as if shocked at his own words. "I'm sorry, what am I saying? It must be the curse talking. I'm sorry," he muttered, as he slowly disengaged himself from her arms.

Neal held her face in his hands and wiped away the tears that stained her soft skin. It hurt like hell, but he had to walk out on her again, _one last time_.

"Goodbye, Emma."


	28. Chapter 28: Providence

**_A/N: I was going to wait a little longer to publish Chapter 28, but I think you won't mind me doing it today, right? Again, thanks for your reviews, please keep them rolling! So here is the moment that brought a lot of tears to my eyes while I was writing it, Daddy Neal saying goodbye to his boy. Still on the fatherhood topic, Charming finds out he actually has the 'father thing' in him, after all, as he succeeds in doing the "nearly impossible" in this chapter. Enjoy!_**

* * *

**_Chapter 28: Providence_**

"Will you excuse me?" Neal told the fairies he met on the Convent's kitchen, as he prepared to head to the patio and felt he was about to burst into flames. "Thanks"

He turned on the tap and reached for a glass. So much for the 'no histrionics' part of the plan. His mind was spinning, his heart was at his mouth and his hands were still shaking. _And he still had to go and talk to Henry._

He put his head under the running water, and waited until it calmed his nerves. His T-shirt was soaked when it finally did, as he walked away over a puddle of water on the floor, much to the fairies' astonishment.

"Oh, there you are," he heard Tinkerbell say, as she turned her head and walked towards him. _"What the hell?"_

"I'm fine," he lied, as she stared at him with a frown. "I was just… _thirsty._"

"Right," she replied, with a worried chuckle. "Do you want to ask Charming for another change of clothes?"

"No," he answered. The cool feeling of the wet fabric against his skin was actually soothing, and it was not as if he would have to worry about catching a cold, anyway. He had more pressing matters to deal with. "I'm ok, really."

"Are you done with your goodbyes?" she asked, and Neal felt a sharp pang in his heart.

"Almost," he whispered, and stopped walking. A few feet away from him, he could see Henry talking joyfully to his grandparents, which only made him realize that the true pain hadn't begun yet.

Much as his conversation with Emma had torn him apart over and over again, at least there was this thin line of understanding between them. It was common ground, an inescapable defeat the two of them had acknowledged a long time ago. They had only made it official, and he was glad to have gotten his message across, even though he felt it would still take time for her to forgive him for screwing up her life. That is, if she _ever_ forgave him at all.

But with Henry, things were completely different. It was another level of hurt, one he hadn't known before, even with his long history of mishaps. Regardless of the fact he never knew Emma was carrying his child when he left her, the truth was that his son been left fatherless because of his actions. Then, in some unexplainable twist of fate, the two of them had made their way into each other's lives, and he had found out that despite all the adversity, the kid had turned out to be a hell of a fine boy, and that although they had only spent a few moments together…

The boy turned his head and met his father's gaze, and a smile lit up his face.

"Neal!" he exclaimed, and Neal felt a lump in his throat, not for the first time that morning.

"Ok," Tinkerbell whispered, realizing the urgency of that moment as she hurriedly fastened a belt with a sword in its sheath around his waist. "When you're done, come meet me by the bridge in the forest."

"What is this?" he asked, but he didn't really care about the answer.

"Your boarding ticket to the Providence, I'll explain later" she replied, as she buckled it up and patted him on the shoulder. "Now go, the kid's been waiting for you. Good luck."

He thought he should whisper some kind of "thank you", but his legs were already leading him to his son and Tinkerbell was no longer in his viewing range.

"Hey kid," he said, as the effort to smile made him crush the package he had picked from his room, nervously.

"You have a sword," the boy replied, as Neal shuffled his hair. "Cool!"

"Yeah…" That conversation would suck, he knew it. It had barely started and he was already at a loss for words.

"I have a question for you," Henry said.

"Hit me."

"Why is it that you don't like your other name, Baelfire?"

Neal had to smile at his son's question. It was a good one, after all. He had spent his whole life running from that name, and very few people actually knew why. But there was no point burdening the kid with a sad story.

"It is actually quite a cool name, isn't it?" Neal asked, winking at the boy.

"It is."

"By the way," he continued, scratching his nose as he raised an eyebrow. "How did we go from Rumplestiltskin, to Baelfire, and then to… _Henry_? I mean, we need to find you an alias, you know, something like Bendigeidfran or… Bairrfhionn, something that lives up to your paternal side of the family."

He saw Henry laugh, and couldn't help but smile widely himself. He then swallowed, as he lowered himself on one knee to look closely at the boy's eyes.

"Henry… Before I travel, I want you to have something, something that has always meant a lot to me," Neal said, unaware that he was clutching the package so tightly that the paper was starting to crack at the edges. "I'm giving it to you because I know you'll take good care of it."

He then kept studying his son's face as the boy opened the box.

"A dreamcatcher?"

"Yeah…" Neal whispered, and again he felt he was about to drown in memories. He cleared his throat before speaking. "It's fly paper for nightmares. You just… you just… hang it on your window, and only the good dreams will come."

The corners of his eyes prickled as he saw Henry handling the dreamcatcher with care, looking at it with curiosity.

"Thanks, dad."

Neal looked down at his own feet as he bit his lip. _Dad._ He hadn't seen that one coming. He then remembered that for all those years Henry had thought his dad was actually _dead_. A brave fireman who had died to save a family, as the boy later told him.

"Oh Henry," his voice was no more than a whisper, and guilt bit at his heart as he spoke. "I'm so sorry I never got to be the hero you thought I was."

"What are you talking about?" Henry replied. "You're going to bring that sword and save all of us!"

He gazed at the boy with a sad smile, and felt a crushing pain in his chest when he realized his eyes were so full of hope and pride. It was healing in a way, and he could stay there all day listening to his son's words and basking in the glory of all the credit he was getting, even though he did not deserve it. But it wouldn't be fair to give him false hopes.

"Son, you know I'm very ill, don't you," Neal said, as he avoided Henry's eyes and searched for the right words to phrase what was coming next. "And that I might not come back from this trip?"

"No!" Neal saw the boy exclaim, as the unwavering spark of hope in his eyes seemed to falter for a split second. "Good always prevails!"

"Henry…"

"You are coming back, I know it!" Henry said, and Neal noticed he was clinging on to every little bit of hope he had, even though reality was starting to sink in. "You have to believe it!"

"I believe in _you_, Henry," Neal said at last. His voice was far from steady and he knew he was not doing a very good job being his son's rock at that moment. But he couldn't leave without letting Henry know. "I believe that you, _you_ saved all of us. _You_ are the hero," he whispered, as he held his son's arms. "And your mother is so proud of you, and I… I am _so proud_ of you."

He was glad Henry had lowered his head, because it gave him time to wipe away a tear that had escaped the corner of his eye.

"Henry... Son, look at me."

When the boy lifted his head again, his eyes were full of tears.

"You are the best thing that ever happened to me," Neal said, and he hoped his trembling voice would not falter. "And I will always, _always_ be with you."

Neal held his son's face in his hands, and watched as silent tears fell from his eyes. He then carefully wiped them away and pulled the boy to a tight embrace, trying to keep breathing despite all the knives that seemed to be cutting through his skin. He rubbed the boy's back, and his eyesight was so blurred that he didn't know how long he could hold on until his grief got the best of him. But he had to be strong; he had to be the one supporting Henry, and not the other way around.

"Love you kid," he said at last, as he got to his feet and gave Henry a kiss on top of his head. He rearranged the sword at his waist, playfully pinched the boy's nose, and walked away while he still had the strength to, before the realization he was never going to see his son again charged its price.

* * *

"He bought you a _house?_" asked Snow, looking at the picture Emma had given her with wide eyes. "Oh, Emma! He loves you so much!"

"I just…" the blond woman muttered, as she sat on the floor while her parents learnt the events from earlier that morning. "I just stayed there, and said nothing. I don't know what to think!"

"Of course you do, Emma," Snow said, as she outstretched her arms and helped her daughter get back to her feet. "You should see yourself when you're near him. You love him, and it's obvious to everybody, except for the two of you!"

Emma flinched at the words.

"So maybe I still have feelings for him," she said, as the usual cold façade replaced any traces left by the emotions of a few moments before. "So what? It changes nothing. There's nothing to go back to."

"Are you sure?" asked her father, raising the envelope with the picture and the keys to her eyes. "This looks like a lot to go back to, Emma."

"Stop, you two!" she exclaimed, taking a step away from her parents as she took the envelope from her father's hands. "A house doesn't change it. It doesn't make up for what happened!"

"You're just scared," Snow whispered. "You're just scared of what may happen if you forgive him," she said with a comforting smile. "Holding on to your hurt is your mind trying to protect you. It is your heart putting up a wall not to get broken again. But maybe that is too high a price to pay, Emma."

The other woman just shook her head with her lips tightly shut.

"I don't understand why he came back into my life…" she whispered.

"Maybe it is your destiny to be with him," Snow continued. "And you're just hurting yourself by denying it."

"I don't believe in destiny," Emma replied, and her voice was full of sadness. "I believe in choices, and we just happened to make pretty bad ones."

"There are things in life we cannot control, Emma" Charming said. Maybe that was as good a time as any to practice his parenting skills. "Sometimes things will go wrong even when we make the right choices. Sometimes you just have to take your chances."

He smiled at her, and then looked back at his wife. Taking chances, after all, was pretty much everything the two of them had done for a very long time.

"And it's okay to fall," he said, as he put his hands on Emma's shoulders. "_You're not alone anymore_. We can help you stand again."

All the tears that Emma had successfully swallowed rushed back to her eyes as her father hugged her. Snow let out a sigh of relief as she realized her husband had accomplished the nearly impossible task of getting their daughter to lower her guard.

After a very long minute, Emma drew in a long breath as she broke the hug, and looked again at the picture of their house. She turned it over and read the address with a frown.

"What is the name of the ship again?" she asked.

"What ship?" asked Charming, still slightly startled to find out he was not such a lousy father, after all.

"Shang's," she whispered, as her eyes remained glued to the letters behind the picture.

_'I don't believe in destiny,'_ she told herself mentally, even though her heart was beating faster. _'It's just a coincidence.'_

"Hmm… The Providence, I think," he answered.

_'Or maybe it's not.'_

She then dropped the envelope, the picture, the keys, and her own skepticism, and rushed to the forest.

She couldn't let him go. _Not alone, at least_.

"What?" Snow whispered in confusion, as her daughter ran past the convent's gate. She picked up the picture from the ground and turned it over, and it only took a glance at the address for her to understand.

_48 Indian River St – Providence – Tallahassee – FL._


	29. Chapter 29: Troubles ahead

**Disclaimer: Alas, none of these characters are mine. Please don't sue me if one of them actually belongs to you. I'm just a penniless sitar player!**

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_**A/N: Thanks everyone for reviewing, I never get tired of saying that! Here is chapter 29, a time for explanations before some serious chaos is unleashed. No more tears anytime soon, I promise. On the very contrary: there's a little humor here as Neal gets intoxicated after drinking some suspicious water, and shares his thoughts about how he wished he was spending his final moments before heading to the Providence. And yes, war is coming and so is someone from Jefferson's past, as you will see towards the end of this chapter. So fasten your seat belts, because things will only get crazier from now on. Have fun!**_

* * *

_**Chapter 29: Troubles ahead**_

"You ready?" asked Tinkerbell.

"Yup," Neal answered, still lying on the ground, hearing the soft cracking of dry branches near him as Tinkerbell stood up. He grabbed a handful of dried leaves and earth on his hands, as he finally managed to push back all the emotions of that morning to some hidden place inside his own mind. "Ready."

"Then stand up and let me take a look at you," she replied.

And so he dragged himself up, as he emptied his hands and rubbed them on the back of his legs to get them clean.

"No, you're not ready yet," she said, as she took two flasks from inside her cape and placed them on his belt. "The potion and… earth."

"What's the second one for?"

"We'll get there," she said, as she moved towards the Toll Bridge and placed a white candle on the ground, lighting it with a soft blow. Neal watched as she muttered something and a green flame wavered, and then disappeared into thin air. "So here are a few things you should know.

"I can keep a trace of my Lost Boys even after they leave Neverland. As time goes by, it grows weaker, but still… One of them joined the Providence a while ago, so I'm following his trace and when the portal opens, you just make sure you follow the tracks. Now, if for some reason the track ends and you're in the middle of nowhere, just open the flask, pour the earth, step onto it, and you'll be in Neverland. I'll go get you. I should mention that as long as you hold the flask, you will not land in the sea, so you should be fine.

"Of course, chances are you're not going to land in the ship itself. You might end up in a pier, or in any land that they have raided recently. You do not have to worry about finding the crew. _They will find you first_, trust me.

"And when they do, you might have to use your sword, Bae, but be wise. The crew of the Providence is no light matter, kid. We're talking about convicts, murderers, deserters, gangsters, real nut jobs. It's a world of nobodies with nothing to lose, and you will be treading on their territory with nothing but your own good intentions and your identity. The fact you're Ursula's son is your trump card. Use it well. If you don't, it may backfire.

"Now, once you're in, understand that before you get to come anywhere near Shang, you'll have to get through the second in command, Mad Dog Majima. You'll recognize him as the man with the eye patch, snakeskin jacket with no shirt, leather pants, and steel-toed boots. Yeah, it is exactly what you're thinking. The man is a real piece of work. Likes to play with his food before he eats it. Cross him, and expect to be stripped of your pride, dignity, and limbs, one by one.

"The good news is he is too much of a big-shot to go into raids himself. Wherever you arrive, you are more likely to encounter one of his goons, instead. They might give you a hard time, but still, at least you have a chance. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you don't have a chance against Majima because you lack skill. I saw your fight with Hook at the pawn store. You're good. It's just that men like him are way out of your league.

"Actually, except for Shang, he is out of anyone else's league, really. He is an extraordinary fighter who has pretty much killed nearly half of Hook's crew, by the way. The only reason why he hasn't killed Hook yet was due to lack of opportunity. Oh yeah. I forgot to mention. Shang and Hook are long-term rivals, and their battles are usually epic. Or were, I shall say.

"I don't know if you should actually mention that if they help you get back to Storybrooke, they may have their chance to bring Hook to his end. That would be a hell of a motivator to Majima, but would work the other way round on Shang. Don't ask me how, or why, but he has his own "I shall not kill" policy. Funny that he has a psycho like Majima for his lieutenant. It's almost as if he is a force of nature that Shang unleashes over the seas when the situation calls for it."

"Anything else I should know?" Neal asked, after Tinkerbell stopped speaking.

"Oh yes," she replied, looking at the candle. "Your main goal is not to get Shang's sword, since running into Ursula means you probably won't be returning to Storybrooke," she paused, as that had clearly been a tough thing to hear. "Your only chance… _our _only chance, is if you convince Shang himself to head to Storybrooke with his crew. We need those crazy punks here to deal with Hook and the crowd he's gathering under Cora's arrangements. Without them, we'll be horribly outnumbered. And we need Shang's sword to destroy the dagger," she said, gazing at him with a quizzical expression. "_The bad news?_ You will have less than two days to do it, three if you hold on longer. Get the picture?"

"Yup," he muttered, as he stared into nothing. _'I'm absolutely screwed,'_ he thought.

Tinkerbell had reached for a bottle and two glasses, and was now serving him something that looked a lot like…

"_Water?_" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "Seriously?"

"Sorry, mate," she said, shrugging. "Can't give you alcohol or the potion loses its kick. I know, I know…"

Neal whimpered, and took a large gulp as he thought of the last time he had had a decent drink. He could do with one now. Oh, yeah. _'Some nice sake,'_ he thought. He drank some more, and felt the tips of his fingers start tingling. '_Nice Daiginjo sake, by the fireplace...'_

"I don't have a fireplace," he whispered.

"What was that?" Tinkerbell asked, and her face twitched as she tried not to laugh.

"Nothing", he answered, blinking. "I don't know where that came from."

All he knew was that in his mind, he had accidentally knocked down his glass of sake as he fell on top of a warm body on the rug, hitting the center table on the way down and feeling its legs break under their weight. He chuckled, wrinkling his forehead as he drank more of the water and found his entire train of thought a bit confusing.

"So," Tinkerbell said, with a dreamlike smile on her face. "Any final wishes?"

"Yeah…" he looked amused at what he was about to say. "I wish I was drinking sake, and making out with Emma Swan?" It was more of a question than a statement, and when he saw Tinkerbell choke on her drink, he couldn't help but laugh. "I don't know where that came from! I swear! But I can't stop thinking about it!"

"Thanks for sharing, anyway," she said, giggling. "Why don't you go and tell her that? It's not as if you'll have many other chances to make that dream come true."

"I guess I actually _did_ tell her," he answered, as his laughter subsided and he remembered their last moment together. "And then she just looked at me like, _'Not gonna happen, buddy,'_" He rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. "I mean, what was I thinking? What a time to embarrass myself."

Tinkerbell was doubled over, clutching her sides in laughter.

"Yeah," Neal groaned, as he reached for the bottle and poured more water into his glass.

"Did you add the line, 'please, it's a dying man's wish'?" she asked, wiping the tears away.

"What?" he exclaimed. "No! I don't want pity sex!"

"Oh, and what kind of-"

"Don't go there," he said, laughing again and shaking his head. "Don't ask me that question!"

"Boo!" she replied, throwing an empty plastic cup at him. "You're no fun."

"Oh, here, I have a related question," he asked, picking up the cup and throwing it back at her. "Do you fairies have sex?"

"Well… we can, but we hardly ever do," she replied, stretching her arms and letting a grin curl her lips. "It requires a lot of planning."

"Yeah, right," Neal answered. Tinkerbell never struck him as being someone who planned things carefully. She seemed to rely more in improvisation, and that was what he liked best about her. "I bet you didn't have to do that much planning when you were out of Neverland. Maybe that's why you never went back."

"Oh yeah," she said, and for a moment she seemed lost in thought.

"You knew it, right?" Neal asked, realizing he had touched on an interesting subject.

"That I could go back?" She didn't look at his eyes as she spoke. "Yeah, I did."

He said nothing, and only glanced at her as she fidgeted with the cup.

"But I stayed because of the sex, of course," she lied, smiling at him.

"Of course you did…" he whispered, as he returned the smile and the two of them exchanged a meaningful look. "How did we get to the whole sex talk, anyway?"

"All I know is that when I asked about your final wishes, I was expecting something like chocolate peppermint ice cream, something that I could actually come up with," she answered, raising her eyebrows. "Not sex with Emma Swan!"

Before he knew, he was giggling again.

"Why can't I stop laughing?" Neal asked, as he looked at his cup. "This is not water, is it?"

"It _is_ water! You need to stay hydrated," she answered. "I just added some…_ fairy dust_ to it."

"What?" he exclaimed. "I'm drinking _fairy dust_?"

"Don't worry, it's just a harmless pinch to loosen you up a little before you go," Tinkerbell replied, as she dismissed his worries with a wave of her hand. "You'll live."

He tilted his head, wrinkling his forehead as he looked at the fairy with inquiring eyes.

"Well," she muttered, shrugging. "Actually, you _won't._"

And then the two of them cracked up in laughter, again.

No, he wouldn't live. He was about to leave and the truth was that he wouldn't live to come back and see the woman he loved ever again. He wouldn't live to get to know his in-laws better. He wouldn't live to sort things out with his father, not that he cared that much. He wouldn't live to be there for his son… to see him grow up…

He was still laughing, but tears were now pouring from his eyes, and his feelings were so messed up he didn't even know which ones were making his shoulders shake. He felt Tinkerbell shuffle his hair and then squeeze his shoulder, with a sad smile on her face.

"It's time go to, Bae," she said at last, as a few feet from them, the flame had reappeared on the candle and was now casting a glowing cloud around it.

* * *

Emma wished she could run as fast as her heart was beating, but her legs were cramping and she was already out of breath as she rushed through the Forest.

"Where is he?" she asked, and panic strained her voice when she saw Tinkerbell standing alone by the Toll Bridge.

"Changed your mind about giving a dying man some lovin', Swan?" the fairy asked, with a knowing look in her eyes. "You're five minutes too late. He's already left."

"No," Emma whispered, as she let her knees sink to the ground, breathing heavily.

Tinkerbell crouched to look at her face, tilting her head.

"Emma Swan, look at me," she said, and the woman raised her head to stare into her eyes. "You love him."

It was not a question, and Emma knew it, so she simply swallowed and remained silent. Tinkerbell kept studying her tear-stained face, and her voice was low when she asked.

"Do you want him to come back?"

"Yes," Emma whispered.

"Do you _believe_ he can do it?"

She saw Emma swallow again, and blink. "Yes."

Tinkerbell's lips curved into a smile.

"Then maybe he will," she said at last. She had seen too much of life to know how tricky magic could be, and how fairies themselves tended to underestimate the power of True Love, probably because very few of them actually understood it. "_Have faith."_

"What?" Emma asked, her voice coming out in a confused whisper. "I don't understand, what does it matter if I believe it or not?"

"Swan, love," the fairy responded, and her grin grew wider. "Believing is _everything._ You should know that by now."

Emma was about to say that she actually didn't catch the drift, but voices behind them brought the conversation to a sudden close.

"Emma?"

She turned around, and her jaw dropped slightly.

_"Mulan?"_

"We finally found you…" the other woman said, as she limped towards Emma.

"Where have you _been?_" Emma asked, looking from the warrior to Aurora, and the two other people that were near them. "_Who are_ these people?"

"This is Prince Phillip, and this…" she looked at a woman who had stumbled to the ground, and whose eyes were darting around frantically, as she tried to make sense of her whereabouts. "This is _Alice_. It's a long story."

* * *

The sun hurt his eyes when he finally opened them. He had no idea how long he had followed the tracks, but he knew that wherever they had led him, it was _clearly not_ a ship. He was surrounded by sand, and there was no one around.

_'Well, so much for that trip,' _Neal thought, as he reached out for the flask of earth and prepared to abort mission before he cooked in the middle of whatever desert that was.

And then he heard it.

_"I know you got it, clap your hands on the floor… And keep on rockin', rock it up on the floor…"_

A man with a shrilling, off-key voice sang somewhere near him. He whipped his head around, but saw no one.

_"If you're a criminal, kill it on the floor… Steal it quick on the floor, on the floor…"_

The voice kept coming and going, as if moving in circles around him.

Neal looked behind him, and then he saw it.

Snakeskin jacket… Leather gloves… Leather pants… _The fucking eye patch._

_'He is too much of a big-shot to go into raids himself'_ Tinkerbell's words echoed in his mind, as a baseball bat connected to the side of his head and he fell unconscious.


	30. Chapter 30: The fairy swords

**_Disclaimer: Again, I don't own anything. Not even the computer I'm using right now. Please don't sue me!_**

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**_A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, you have no idea how happy I am that you are enjoying this crazy ride as much as I am! From now on, the chapters will be split in two different moments: one will deal with the Providence, the other with Storybrooke. That's because lots of things will be happening at the same time, and it feels appropriate to do so. That said, here is Chapter 30, in which Neal gets tortured. Strong scenes and lots of foul language ahead, so get the kids out of the room. I said it would be crazy, and at the moment, it's "scary" crazy._**

**_I shall say we are approaching the ending, dearies… And I'm determined to have all the 6 final chapters posted here before "The Queen is Dead" airs, so review, review, review and you might get to see how it all ends for our beloved heroes earlier than you expect. The ending has already been written. *wipes tears away* A minor spoiler to all of you: next chapter is entitled "Betrayal", so brace yourselves for even further complication._**

**_Have fun!_**

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**_Chapter 30: The fairy swords_**

"He's coming to," Neal heard a female voice whisper, as he blinked and tried to understand where he was. He soon realized his outstretched arms were chained to a damp wall, and his wrists hurt as sharp metal cuffs cut through his skin every time he tried to move.

"About time, _pretty boy._"

The room was dark, but he didn't need to see much to identify the man that stood before him, with a twisted smile on his face, eyeing him as he played with his knife.

"I thought I had sent you into a coma," Mad Dog Majima continued. "Too bad for you, that you didn't."

Then he cracked up in some sort of deranged laughter that made Neil's skin crawl.

"Where am I?" he asked, and the effort of speaking made his head throb violently. His hair was matted with blood, and there were bruises over his neck and jawline.

"Save your breath, _princess_," the other man replied, narrowing the eye that was not covered by the eye patch. "_I_ get to ask the questions. And the first one is… Who _the fuck_ are you?"

He could answer that, although he still had his doubts. And he would, in any other circumstances. However, he remembered all too well what Tinkerbell had said about his identity being a trump card, and he was not sure that was the moment to use it.

"I need to talk to your Captain," he mumbled, and felt sick as even more pain jolted in his head as he did so. He also remembered he should not piss that whacko off, or he would be sliced and diced before setting his eyes on Shang.

"No no no no no no," the other man replied, as he danced around his prisoner, with the same insane look on his face. "Wrong. _Answer_," he hissed, and punched Neal in the jaw with such vicious power that blood spurted from the other man's mouth onto the ground.

"Son of a bit-"

"What was that?" Majima crouched to place his ear close to Neal's mouth. "Is that a name I hear? No. It_. Isn't_," he muttered, apparently having a lot of fun with the situation as he wrapped his hand around Neal's neck. "Let's try again."

Neal felt his head go light as the other man did a very good job strangling him. And then, just when circles of light were flashing before his eyes, he let go.

"Now what's your name again?" he asked, barely hiding his excitement with all the pain he was causing.

Neal looked at the maniac face staring at him, and all the physical pain that now washed through his body took its toll on his sanity as he broke into a fit of laughter while desperately gasping for air. Of all the people he could have met, he had to be captured by the ship's_ lunatic extraordinaire_.

"Go fuck yourself," he mumbled, as he caught his breath after laughter died away. He then raised his eyes back to the other man and knew he was going to die after he finished that sentence. _He didn't care._ "I don't have time to waste with the second in command."

Mad Dog Majima said nothing, and just stared at his prey with a sneer on his lips.

"You're ballsy for someone who's chained to the Providence, bitch."

"I'm in the Providence?" Neal asked, and a shudder of relief ran through his body despite all the suffocating pain. Now all he had to do was to stay alive until he got to talk to Shang.

"Yes, you are... But not for long," he heard the other man whisper, and his brief moment of joy was soon brought to an end as Majima looked at his arm with renewed interest. "I'm just gonna have a little more fun with you before I feed you to the sharks."

He felt the sharp tip of a knife poke at the cut on his arm, and quickly realized that staying alive would be nowhere as easy, possible, or even _desirable_ as he thought.

"Nice cut you have there," Majima whispered. "Seems to be healing nicely."

He then pushed the blade past the wound, and Neal thought he would throw up as excruciating pain shot through his body. His scream echoed around the dark cell.

"Majima, stop!" It was the female voice again. "You're gonna kill him!"

"The hell, Squish?" Majima asked, as he tumbled over after being shoved out of the way by the woman.

"Just _stop!_" the woman replied. "Go get yourself a drink, I'll handle him!"

His eyesight was too blurred for him to understand what exactly was going on, but when the woman turned her head to face him, her sparkling green eyes seemed to illuminate the room.

"I'm so sorry," she said, as she approached him and pressed a cloth to the bleeding injury on his arm. "The man is mad, absolutely insane, I am so sorry."

Her voice was soft and strong at the same time, and Neal suddenly found out he couldn't actually take his eyes off hers. She reached out for a bucket and took another cloth from the belt in her waist, dipping it into water and carefully cleaning his blood-stained lips as her eyes hovered over his face.

She moved on to cleaning the mess of dried blood on his head, and his eyes moved to her cleavage and the caramel skin of her shoulders, such a stark contrast to the white top she had on. Her black hair fell in waves over a teal and gold bodice, and gold hoop earrings hung from her ears.

"I like your smell," he heard her whisper, and her voice sent chills up his spine. Somewhere in the foggy mess of his mind, he tried to remember whether Tinkerbell had mentioned something about cannibals being part of the Providence's crew.

She then looked at him, and seemed to notice his tension. "But don't worry, I don't bite," she said, with a smile on her lips. "Only if you _ask me to._"

The warmth of her breath on his neck was sending blood to the wrong parts of his body. Notably, barely any oxygen was being sent to his brain.

_ 'What is going on with you?'_ a weak voice inside him said. _'Wake up, wake up, WAKE UP!'_

But it didn't matter what his good sense was screaming at him. Some other fraction of his mind was clearly taking over, and his eyes fluttered closed when he felt her teeth nipping at his ear.

"What's your name, again?" she whispered.

_Of course._ The good ol' "good cop, bad cop" scheme. Neal smiled lightly with his eyes still closed - he should have known. _Been there, done that. _Then his eyes shot open, because even though he was no fool and knew how that game worked, it was the first time _ever _the "good cop" was sliding her hand inside his pants.

"Why don't you relax?" she purred, and Neal had to stifle a moan as her eyes again pierced into his.

_'It is the eyes. It has to be the eyes,'_ the weak voice of his conscience screamed again, fully aware that he was under a spell, and tried to regain some control over the rest of his mind and especially, _over his body._ _'Just don't look at her, don't look!'_

When he tried to look away from her, his eyes landed on her hands, which were now unzipping his pants, and he started to break a sweat.

"So, what do you say?" she asked again.

_'Oh yeah,'_ the other fraction of his mind answered simply.

"I don't think so" he whispered through pursed lips.

"Are you sure?" she asked again, her lips too close to his ear for comfort.

_'No!'_ his mind screamed.

"Y-yes," he stuttered.

"Too bad, then," she said with a poisonous sneer, as she zipped him back up. All the niceness in her voice disappeared, and was replaced by defiance and scorn. "Then I guess you won't need _them_."

"Need them wh-"

Before he had the chance to complete his sentence, she had brought her knee to his groin with much more strength than he could have expected. All the air left his lungs as stars popped before his eyes, and all the other injuries he had suffered claimed his attention at the same time. When he finally managed to breathe again, he cursed so loud he was sure it wouldn't go unnoticed by anyone in that ship.

"Oh, I know that hurt," she said, with an eyebrow arched dangerously as she glanced at him. "But I guess I can help with that."

She had pulled out a knife, and Majima was back in the cell, looking happier than ever. They were only getting started, and _it wouldn't be pretty._

His whole body ached so much that he had barely heard footsteps approach before the door slammed open.

"What is going on in here?" he heard a thunderous voice ask, as a tall, broad-shouldered man entered the cell. He was clad in what was obviously a soldier uniform with a red cape, and his long black hair was held up in a ponytail with a matching piece of cloth. His eyes darted from Neal to Majima, and then to the woman. "Majima?"

"I found him during the raid," the man answered, crossing his arms. "He has a fairy sword, but won't say his name."

"And so you decided to _torture_ him?" the other man's eyes went from the cuffs on Neal's wrists to the blood on the floor, and then back to his bruises. He didn't look like a man who was about to be questioned any time soon, and the aura of power around him seemed to scorch Majima's usual disdain.

And from what he could remember, there was only _one person in that ship_ that could keep that demented maniac in a leash.

"Shang?" Neal asked, and the man turned his head to look at him, studying his face for a long minute. Even when his hand moved to the sword fastened to Neal's waist, the captain's eyes never left his.

Their eye contact was only broken when Shang took a step back and pulled a lighter out of one of the compartments in his belt.

"A fairy sword indeed," he whispered, holding the flame over the hilt and looking at the symbols and drawings that surfaced on the shiny heated metal. "One of the finest produced in Neverland, from what I can see."

He then lifted his gaze to Neal's face again, looking at him with a silent question in his eyes.

"Squish, go get Tuesday," he said at last, and Neal saw the woman leave with her eyes glued to the ground. "And you, uncuff him and call Six," his voice was final as he talked to Majima, and although the two men before him were the same height, Neal couldn't help but entertain himself with the realization that Captain Shang seemed to tower several feet above the demented maniac he had for a lieutenant. "This man needs to be cared for."

"_What?"_ the other man snorted. "You don't even know who he is!"

"I _don't care_ who he is," Shang answered, and it was rather curious how calm his voice sounded while his eyes shot daggers at the other man. "No man dies in my ship, not when _I can stop it_."

"Name is Baelfire," he said at last, as his voice came out in a throaty, tired sound. "And I need your help."

Next to Shang, Majima's face twitched angrily.

"_Now_ you talk. You son of a b-"

"Majima," Shang interrupted. "Call Six and take him to the sick bay," he turned to face Neal one last time, before leaving the cell. "We'll talk after your injuries have been tended."

* * *

"What?" Emma's eyes were about to pop out of her head as she listened to Mulan. "What do you mean, _she has Cora's heart?_"

"It's what I'm telling you, at first I wouldn't believe it either, but that's how she got us here to begin with. She used it to create a portal that led us here, _using Cora's heart_," answered the other woman. The two of them were relatively far from the other three, whereas Tinkerbell just stayed in the middle, as if trying to make up her mind as to what clique she should join. "I've told you, we met her when we were in our quest for Phillip's soul, and…"

Emma shook her head and closed her eyes. Nothing made sense; people just couldn't go around jumping realms to collect people's souls. "Explain again how you got his… _soul_ back?" she whispered, as she put her hands behind her head.

"Cora had told Aurora that his soul had been taken to a world of darkness," Mulan whispered hurriedly, as she glanced over her shoulder and watched as Alice slowly got to her feet. "For days and nights Aurora and I searched for a way to get to where the Wraiths were, but we could only do it when she fell asleep. Her dreams led her back to that wrecked red room, and one day she realized there was a passage to another one, further underground. That's where she met Alice, who begged her to take her away. If she did, she would help trade Phillip's soul with the Gatekeeper, because she had something precious to offer."

"How, _how?_" Emma Swan couldn't see any of it happening. It was way too absurd. "Take her away? Trade his soul? How did she _do_ it?"

"I don't know, Emma!" Mulan exclaimed, as Alice engaged in an argument with Aurora and Phillip far behind them. "All I know is that Aurora nearly died, but she had agreed, and when she woke up, Alice had landed in our camp, with Cora's heart in a teapot!"

Tinkerbell's ears registered the last part of the story and she rushed towards Mulan and Emma, who seemed to whimper at the last part.

"_A teapot?_"

"What do you want me to say?" Mulan whispered, as she again glanced over her shoulder and saw Alice marching towards her. "If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't believe it myself. Then, when we went back to where Phillip was, Aurora kissed him and he returned," Emma rolled her eyes, as the story seemed to become more ridiculous with every added detail. "But Alice was mentally unstable, and kept muttering something about a "Jefferson", I swear, she would even turn violent, she had spent far too much time underground…"

A click behind them announced that Alice had unsheathed her sword, and was now pointing it at Emma's throat.

"I don't know who you are," she hissed. "I don't care. I don't _trust_ you."

"Alice!" Mulan exclaimed.

"You shut up!" the other woman screamed. "You _lied_ to me! You said you knew where _he_ was!"

"I didn't!" Mulan replied, as she too unsheathed her sword and pointed it to Alice's throat. "I told you I _knew somebody_ who could actually help!"

_'Great,'_ thought Emma, as she sighed. _'Where's my sword when I need it?'_

"And this is her, this is _Emma Swan_," the warrior said.

"Where is he?" Alice asked, as she turned to look at Emma. Her eyes were two big orbs of madness.

"He who?" Emma asked.

"Jefferson."

"If you lower your sword, I _might_ know," she replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Now, why don't all we all chill out, huh?" Tinkerbell said, as she jiggled around the angry crowd, moving her hands playfully. "You can start by dropping the swords, 'cause if you die on my shift, it will be a nightmare to write the reports, if you catch my drift…"

"Who the hell are you?" Mulan asked, gripping her sword even harder.

"Tinkerbell," Emma replied, tiredness showing in her voice. The daylight was starting to fade away and so far, she had gotten into more trouble than she had bargained for.

"Ooh, by the way, Mulan dear," the fairy continued, as Aurora and Phillip joined the group. "Do you mind if I get your sword back for a while? Consider it a… _product recall,_" she winked. "That beauty you're holding has a _tiny_ little flaw."

"Over my dead body!" the warrior hissed.

"Well…" Tinkerbell bit her lip. "You are not giving me much of a choice, are you?"

She snapped her fingers, and Mulan's blade was replaced by a harmless wooden replica.

"What have you _done?_" she screamed, dropping the useless toy and looking at it with a ferocious gleam in her eyes.

"I know," the fairy responded, as the adjusted Mulan's sword around her own waist, next to the other blade she was already carrying. "Not very polite. And trust me, that trick doesn't always work…"

_'If it did, I would have all of my beauties back…'_ she thought.

"_Wait_," Emma said, as she looked around. "Where is Alice?"

The whole crowd had been so entertained with Mulan's sword that only after a few moments did they realize someone was missing.

"There she is!" exclaimed Phillip, as he set off to chase the blond lady running towards the edge of the Forest.

Emma made to follow him, but Tinkerbell grabbed her by the arm.

"Swan, you need to go get this Jefferson guy here before she does something stupid with that heart," her voice was abnormally serious. "I'll go ahead and tell the others to help you out."

"I can help!" Mulan said, "Just give me back my sword!"

The fairy looked at the warrior, and narrowed her eyes.

"Makes sense," she said, unsheathing one of the two swords she was now carrying. "You stay here and protect Alice at all costs," she said, and her voice was again firm and serious. 'You have no idea how important she is right now."

"Thanks," whispered Mulan, as she studied the blade with care. She then sheathed it and set to follow Phillip, who had already knocked Alice down and tried to duck her kicks and punches.

_'I knew she wouldn't tell the difference,' _the fairy thought as she smiled with mischief, tapping the hilt of the second most powerful blade in all realms, now safely fastened to her waist.


	31. Chapter 31: Betrayal

**_A/N: I know, I know that Neal never seems to catch a break in this story. I'm sorry! Here is Chapter 31, and guess what? *rolls eyes* Don't hate me, lol! Tension builds in the Providence and in Storybrooke, as the final battle approaches. _**

* * *

**_Chapter 31: Betrayal_**

"No," said a tall young man with short brown hair and dark eyes. "I'm positive. I have never seen him before."

Neal rolled his eyes as Tuesday spoke, shifting uncomfortably on the cot squeezed between the boy, a cabinet and the chair where the Captain was sitting.

"Never?" Shang asked for the millionth time. "You have never seen this man in Neverland."

"Nope."

"Of course he hasn't!" Neal exclaimed. "That's because I've never been to Neverland! I was supposed to become a Lost Boy but I never did, and I have already told you why!"

"Yes, you have," the Captain murmured thoughtfully, as he reviewed all the information he had been given.

His stoicism was finally getting to Neal. If he had more time, he would gladly wait for the Captain to meditate on the matter, but_ time_ was exactly what he did _not_ have. His head was buzzing again and even after drinking more of the potion, the freshly reopened cut on his arm was not healing as well as he had expected, which only reminded him that slowly but steadily that curse was eating him away. Though, of course, his warm reception at the Providence might have made things even worse on his already damaged system.

He kept staring at the taller man, feeling an urge to shake his shoulders and prompt some kind of action on his part. He had told him everything: that he was Rumplestiltskin's son, that his father had cast a curse to get to him, that only Shang's sword could destroy the Dark One's Dagger, that Tinkerbell had sent him there, and the most important thing of all, that he was willing to face his mother so that the Providence could sail into Storybrooke.

And the man had kept looking at him with the very same expression in his eyes all along, without saying a word. Then, when he finally spoke, it was to ask the former Lost Boy, probably the one Tinkerbell had tracked, whether he had ever seen Baelfire before. _He had to be kidding._

"What do you remember about your mother?" Shang asked at last. The man was certain economical with words, and Neal wished he could follow his train of thought. _'From Tinkerbell to my mother…Seriously, what are you getting at?'_ he wondered, before answering.

"Not much," he answered, honestly. "She left when I was very young, I hardly remember her face."

Again, not a single muscle on the other man's face moved. Neal wondered if he had even listened.

"Tuesday," Shang said. "You can go. Tell Majima we are shifting the course of The Providence."

Neal let out a relieved sigh, as his body slumped onto the cot, happiness jolting through his veins. _He had made it._ They were heading to Storybrooke. He felt an unexplainable desire to stand up and hug his indifferent counterpart, but he knew better.

"Sir, yes, sir!" answered Tuesday, bringing his hand to his right temple in a respectful salute. "What is the new route, sir?"

_"Neverland,"_ Shang replied, as he stood up and prepared to leave the sick bay.

Neal felt his blood freeze.

* * *

Alice kept pacing up and down the Forest as she waited for him. How much time had it been since that woman left to look for Jefferson? Minutes? Hours? She did not know.

"Alice?"

She then turned her head to see where that voice was coming from, and felt her heart would break when she saw him.

"Jefferson?"

Mulan was the first to stand up, quickly followed by Phillip and Aurora.

"Where is Emma?" the warrior asked, casting a suspicious look upon the man as she unsheathed her sword.

"She's at the Convent. She told me to meet you here," Jefferson asked, looking confused. "What is going on? Alice…" he then turned to look at the woman who was staring at him with a mix of despair and relief. "Alice! I thought you were dead!"

She then flung herself onto his arms, and her painful howl made everyone's hair stand on end.

"Jefferson!" she cried, as her shoulders shook with the effort. "Why, _why_ did you leave me there?"

"Alice…" the man pressed his arms around her, "I am so sorry!"

"You have no idea what I had to endure…" the woman mumbled, as her eyes darted from his face to the darkness behind him. "She tortured me! The horror! She locked me in a nightmare! You… you said you would go back for me!" she whispered, and tears fell from her eyes. "Why _didn't_ you?"

"I thought you were dead!" he exclaimed, as he held her arms and looked at her face in shock. "How did you survive?"

"The King of Hearts… the trial… he said he was a jumper card, I didn't know what that meant, but he said… he said I should take it with me…"

"Take it where?" Jefferson asked, as his eyes bore into hers.

"To the Wraiths… He knew that was where she was sending me after the trial, to a realm of darkness, a place I would never be able to leave, but I could use it… that card… I could use it to get away! But when I got there… it was horrible!" more tears fell from her face. "He told me I would find something that could destroy the Queen if I searched well enough… Because she was sending me to the place where she had hid her most well hidden possession."

"The King of Hearts told you that?" Jefferson asked again, and his fingers dug into her arms.

Alice nodded. "And I found it, Jefferson! I found it!" she smiled, and for a moment the madness in her face was replaced by pure bliss. "I found _her heart_! We can destroy her now… after everything she has done to us!"

Jefferson kept looking at her with a smile as more tears ran down her face.

"And where is it?" he asked.

Alice lowered her eyes to the pouch fastened at her belt, and untied it. While she did it, the man looked over her shoulder and saw Mulan approach, with a menacing look on her face.

"Alice, my love…" he whispered, as he held her face in his hands. "You should not trust any of these people, they are only here to steal that heart from you!"

Alice glanced at Mulan and the others with a frightened look in her eyes.

"We have to hide it somewhere safe…" he said, and his eyes never left hers. "If it stays here, they will _take it from you!_"

"Take it!" the woman's chin trembled as she gave Jefferson the pouch. "Hide it!"

Jefferson seemed to beam as he took Cora's heart in his hand, and then he once again touched Alice's face, with a loving look on his eyes. "You stay here," he whispered, "I'll go get our daughter."

"Grace!" Alice whispered, as more tears ran from her face.

"Yes…" he whispered with a smile.

"What is going on in here?" Mulan asked, and as soon as she did, Alice unsheathed her sword and lunged towards her.

Jefferson took that chance to run deeper into the Forest.

"Go after him, Phillip!" Mulan yelled, as her blade battled Alice's furiously. "Don't let him escape!"

And so Prince Phillip ran as fast as he could, but Jefferson was already gone.

* * *

"Neverland?" Neal exclaimed, as he tried to keep up with the man walking in front of him. "What are we heading to Neverland for?"

"Six, take him back to the sick bay," Shang replied, without looking back, as he marched towards the deck. "He needs to rest."

A woman with her hair tied in an impossibly long braid reached for Neal's arm, but he was way too flustered to comply. He was not going anywhere, not until he understood what Shang had in mind.

"Captain Shang, please!" he screamed, drawing looks from other members of the crew who were hanging around. _"Why?"_

He saw the man take a long, deep breath, before turning around slowly to face him.

"You are not my responsibility," he answered, and his voice was as calm as usual. "If Tinkerbell sent you here, it is _hers._"

"But Tinkerbell is not in Nev-"

"Regardless," Shang continued, as he took a step closer to Neal, and it was his turn to feel his scorching aura of power. "She will go get you there, if she really wants to."

"But-"

"You should get some rest," the Captain interrupted, as he once again turned on his heels and walked away.

"Why bother?" Neal yelled again, and turned his head. "I'm dying anyway, I'll probably never make it there!" he stared into the other man's eyes, as all the diplomacy flew out of the window. "If you are not going to Storybrooke, then don't bother to sail all the way to Neverland. I'll probably be dead much before we arrive. You might as well just kill me now."

Shang narrowed his eyes as Neal walked towards him.

_'Be unpredictable'_, a voice inside his head whispered, and before he knew what he was doing, his hand had fished Shang's sword from its sheath, and he was now pointing it at a very startled Captain of the Providence.

"I'll give you one last chance," Shang hissed, and Neal suddenly realized that if he was saying that while _Neal _was holding _his_ sword, it was because he was about to beat the snot out of him, and it would be _bad._

"This is my last chance in many more ways than you can imagine," Neal answered, as his heart pounded furiously in his chest. "And if I have to die fighting for it, _then be it._"

Shang's eyes were now glued to his face, and even when Tuesday threw him Neal's sword, he merely caught it in the air with impressive dexterity and did not blink.

But Neal did, and that was all the Captain needed to knock the sword out of his hand with a swift blow of his blade. He watched as Shang dropped his sword as well, and moved towards him without saying a word, _still not blinking_.

_He was so going to get his ass kicked._ But whatever, at least it would let the other man know he was serious. The crowd around them roared in delight as the two of them prepared to fight.

Neal threw a punch to get the ball rolling, but when his fist connected with Shang's stomach, he felt his fingers had snapped, whereas the other man didn't seem to have budged.

"You'll find out that I don't bruise easily," Shang said, as he ducked all Neal's attempts to hit him again. When the whole thing was starting to get boring, the Captain grabbed the other man's arms and brought him to the floor with what seemed an incredibly effortless leg wheel, and proceeded to pin him to the ground with a figure-four armlock.

"Fighting someone you have no conditions whatsoever of defeating is not bravery," he whispered as he slid Neal's arm toward his lower body, while pressing his elbow up. "It is _stupidity_. Go back to the bay."

"Tell me why," Neal whispered back between gritted teeth, feeling his arm would soon break.

"Because I _do_ believe Tinkerbell sent you. I _do_ believe Hook has given you that injury. I _do_ believe that you're _dying_," Shang answered, as he forced greater opposition on Neal's joints. "But I _do not_ believe you're Ursula's son, and I will not lead my crew into a losing battle against her _again._"

Neal looked at his face and noticed that the man's eyes glowed with something that looked a lot like guilt.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you," the Captain said, as he had finally forced Neal into submission and now prepared to stand up. In silence, he picked up his sword from the ground and then disappeared behind one of the doors of the ship, as the crowd that had gathered around the two of them dispersed in a mumble of indistinct whispers.

* * *

Back at the Sisters of Saint Melissa, night had fallen and brought an unexpected guest with it.

"Oberon?" asked a very surprised Blue Fairy. "Look at you… you're _dressed!_"

"Reul, your sense of humor is…" Oberon whispered, as he approached his long-term acquaintance. He wished her well, despite all the usual power clashes among magical realms. _"… out of this world_. Alas, I _am_ dressed," he continued, as he looked at his own dark cape. "It is only funny not to be when I know Titania will be biting her tongue in jealousy!"

"What brings you here at this time?" she asked, with a smile. She too wished him well, despite all their differences. "I thought you and Titania would have received the latest report on our advances, only a few hours ago…"

"Oh, we sure have," he said, and now his voice was no longer playful. "And that's what's brought me here." His eyes grew darker as he spoke. "You… _all of you,_ are in great danger."

"What do you mean?" the Blue Fairy asked, and the smile died on her lips.

"Titania," he whispered. "She has been reporting all your moves to Cora."

Reul Ghorm's pupils dilated as she kept looking at Oberon.

"You know how revengeful my wife is," he continued, raising an eyebrow and pursing his lips. "And ever since the Council, when Rumplestiltskin attacked her, she has been intent on getting back at him," he let out a sigh. "I wish I had found out earlier, but only today did I eavesdrop on her sending Cora a message about that girl, Alice," as he spoke, he realized Reul Ghorm was clenching her jaw, as in a very brave attempt not to set him on fire. "I'm sorry. I came as fast as I could."

"Thank you, Oberon," the Blue Fairy replied, with her eyes tightly shut. "You be careful too, I don't know what Titania will do when she finds out you came here."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," he said, as his lips curved in a mischievous smile. He rolled a small reddish flower between his fingers. "I'm planning to teach her a lesson…"

"Oberon?"

Nova had joined them in the patio, with a friendly smile. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Nova, make sure to gather everyone, now," the Blue Fairy replied, as she slowly opened her eyes. "All the fairies, the Charmings, Rumplestiltskin, everyone."

"Why, bu-"

"Just do as I say," the Original Power whispered back. "_The final battle is about to begin._"


	32. Chapter 32: Trial and error

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing. Six's and Squish's lines are totally taken from the Cell Block Tango in Chicago. I also borrowed a trope related to legendary Kazuma Kiryu's in the part where Squish describes Shang as the "Patron Saint of Niceness". I tip my hat to those very creative minds; I find all of the aforementioned fragments brilliant! _**

**_A/N: In this story, Ursula got her name from the constellation of Ursa Major, hence Shang mentioning her eyes are "the seven brightest stars of the Plough". Yes, you can take that as a spin to Homer's claim that it is the only constellation that "never bathes in the Ocean's waves", lol. Enjoy!_**

* * *

**_Chapter 32: Trial and error_**

"Why do they call you Six?" Neal asked, now back at the sick bay, as the lady with the longest braid he had ever seen in his life tended his wounds again. That was all he seemed to have accomplished in the last few days. _Getting injured._ "That's not your name, is it?"

"No, it isn't," the woman answered, as she pressed a towel to his bleeding head. Apparently, the little showdown with Captain Shang had broken the stitches she had so carefully weaved only a few hours ago. "My name is Rapunzel. As to why they call me Six…" she sighed, raising an eyebrow. "Do you have time for a story?"

Neal shrugged. Actually, _he didn't_, but again, it was not as if he was in a hurry to do anything anymore.

"You see, there was this guy… a really good-looking one. One day, he stopped by the tower where I lived, and called out for me. He had heard me sing, and fell in love with my voice. So I dropped my braid, he climbed up my hair to my tower room, and there you have it. He told me he was single, and so we hit it off right away…" a little smile curled her lips at the corners.

"I would fix him a drink every time he came to visit, and we had a helluva good time. But he spent a lot of time away. Working, he would say. Then one day I found out. Single he said? Single my ass!" she growled, and her eyes gleamed with fury. "Not only was he married, oh no… He had six wives!"

She put down the towel she was holding to his head, and handed Neal a glass of water with a painkiller before she started stitching his head again.

"So… One night he came to my tower room again, and I fixed him a drink, as usual…" she said, shrugging, taking the glass after Neal had emptied it. She then gazed at him with a puzzled look in her eyes. "But you see, some men just can't hold their _arsenic._"

Neal swallowed, looking at the glass with some discomfort after the woman's tale.

"Actually, that's also the story of how I ended up in the Providence, by the way," she said, as her eyes lingered on the needle in her hands. "Captain Shang took me in when no one else would."

He had to admit that the Captain of the Providence seemed to be a remarkable man, despite his stoicism and the fact he had made it very clear he was not going to help. He wondered how on earth Shang had become the leader of such a deranged crew, when he obviously had had many other paths in life to choose from.

"Do you know where he is now?" he asked.

"The Captain?" said Six. "In the wardroom, probably. But if you're planning to go after him again, I will wait until you get back to stitch your head," she continued, "and other limbs, after he beats you to a bloody pulp."

Neal smiled without much enthusiasm. He wasn't about to pick another fight with the Captain anytime soon, but at least he could make sure to cross his t's and dot his i's before everything was over.

* * *

"What?" Mulan whispered, as she looked over Alice's shoulder and saw a group of people walking towards them.

Her distraction was all that the other woman needed to untangle their swords and send her blade cutting through her arm. Mulan then dropped her sword, as beads of blood slowly stained her sleeve, and Alice whipped her head around to finally see what had caught the other woman's eye.

She then let herself fall to the floor, with her eyes as wide as ever, as she covered her mouth to stifle a cry.

"Alice!"

"No!" she whimpered, as Jefferson ran towards her with a mix of despair and happiness in his eyes. _"No!"_

The man stopped dead on his tracks, startled by her scream. He then looked at Emma and Charming, and back to the others, with confusion showing in every line of his face.

"Alice?" he whispered, taking another step forward.

"Stay away from me!" she yelled, dragging herself backwards. "Who are you?"

"What?" Jefferson mumbled. "Alice, it's me… Jefferson!"

"Mulan, what is going on here?" Emma asked in a whisper, and realized the other woman was as pale as a ghost.

"Cora," she replied. "She pretended to be Jefferson, and she… she was here five minutes ago."

"What?" Emma gasped, and looked at her father with horror in her eyes, then back at Mulan. "How?"

The warrior simply shook her head.

"I knew something was wrong…" she said. "But it was too late, he… I mean, she, convinced Alice to give her the heart and then ran to the Forest…"

"She took the heart back?" Charming asked, and his voice was unusually strained.

Mulan nodded, closing her eyes, and all of them fell silent.

* * *

"I'm sorry to disturb you," Neal said as he approached Shang again, this time much more carefully, since the man was likely to be less than happy with his presence at the wardroom after their little encounter earlier that day. "But do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"If it has anything to do w-"

"It has nothing to do with Storybrooke," Neal was quick to add, as he took a seat by the counter next to the Captain. "I just realized that I have told you everything about my life, but I still don't know anything about yours."

"That's because there's nothing about me that you need to know," Shang replied, as he picked up his drink without raising his eyes from the wall in front of him.

_'Shot down in record time,'_ thought Neal, as he began to realize that breaking a rock with a pillow might be easier than getting Shang to engage in conversation.

"Still," Neal insisted. "You have tried to go past Ursula before, haven't you?"

The man next to him remained silent, but Neal noticed he had tightened his jaw before sipping his drink again.

"Yes," he answered, as his eyes remained glued to the wall. "I have."

"What happened?"

Another long minute of silence. Neal could swear that talking to that man was one of the most nerve-wrecking experiences of his life, and that was saying something.

"She killed more than half of my crew."

Neal scratched his head, and then rested his chin on his elbow. He knew he was poking an open wound and unless he chose his next few words carefully, the Captain would crawl back into his shell.

"What is she like?" he asked, quietly.

Neal saw Shang turn his head to look at him with a frown, as if pondering whether, _or how_, he should answer that question. Then he lowered his eyes back to his drink.

"She is a ghostly beast," he answered, and Neal felt a lump in his throat. "Dark as night, with the seven brightest stars of the Plough for her eyes. Her shape is half of a sea monster, half of a woman trapped in a cloud of despair, and her skin is a sickening purple…" Shang paused, to sip his drink again. "Legend says she used to be a woman of remarkable beauty, married to Rumplestiltskin, whom she left before he became the Dark One." Neal took a long breath as he looked at the ceiling, unwilling to hear that part of the story again, but knowing that he had no other choice. "Milah was her name. She left him and their son to be with Killian Jones, a pirate who had landed in their village. Years later, when Rumplestiltskin was already the Dark One, he met the two of them again, murdered Milah and cut off Jones' hand, hence his moniker, Hook.

"Legend also says Rumplestiltskin endured great despair upon the realization he had killed his son's mother, and performed an ancient ritual to bring her back to life. Needless to say, it failed. The only thing he had actually accomplished was to transform her into a sea witch that shared many of his powers and willingness to strike deals.

"Now, and this is where everything gets particularly interesting" she continued to favor Hook even after she was condemned to a semi-life of wrath over the Seven Seas, allowing his ship to sail from realm to realm at his will. There is just one other person in the entire universe who is believed to placate her wrath as well, an individual that is believed to be the only one apart from Hook she has never forgotten despite the tragic events that fell upon her."

Shang paused again, but this time his glass stayed over the counter.

"Her son," Neal whispered, lost in the maze of his own feelings. "Sounds funny, as she didn't seem to have had much of a hard time leaving him behind, in the first place."

His voice had an unmistakable hint of resentment that didn't go unnoticed by the Captain of the Providence, who now narrowed his eyes again, as he studied the other man's face carefully.

"She paid a high price for her mistake," Shang said.

"So did her son," Neal whispered again, as he was once again forced to deal with his abandonment issues. It was bad enough that his father had let him go because of his addiction to magic; learning that his mother had also left him to engage in more _adventurous_ activities with Hook only made him feel worse.

Suddenly, that conversation had become too much of a burden for him to carry on.

"Whatever he is drinking," he said to the woman behind the counter. "Can I have one as well?"

"Sure you can, _tiger_," the woman responded, as she slowly raised her head to look at him.

"You!" Neal exclaimed, as sparkling green eyes smiled at him playfully from the other side of the counter.

Shang raised his eyebrows and lowered his eyes to his empty glass, smiling discreetly at Neal's expression of shock.

"Me," she said, outstretching her arm for a handshake. "Esmeralda, but you can call me Squish."

Neal shook her hand, hesitantly.

"Sorry about your…" she said, looking over the counter towards his lap. "_Nether parts._"

"It still hurts, you know?" he said, wrinkling his forehead as she began preparing his drink with a smile in her face. "It's inhuman to hit a man where you hit me!"

Shang giggled, and Neal thought it was rather disturbing that the man's first display of emotion took place while he complained about getting kicked in the family jewels.

"And you _laugh?_" he asked, utter disbelief showing in his eyes. "You should show some solidarity here!"

Shang shook his head, and when Esmeralda placed a glass of Mao-tai in front of Neal, he looked at the other man with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you allowed to drink alcohol?" he asked, pulling the glass away at the very same time Neal reached out for it. "These things don't usually go with healing potions."

"It's not as if it matters now," Neal mumbled.

"Squish, fix him some green tea," Shang said, as he lifted the glass to his lips, ignoring the man whimpering by his side.

"Green tea?"

It was Esmeralda's turn to giggle, as she took a teacup set from behind the counter.

"Captain Shang missed his calling in life as the Patron Saint of Niceness, my friend," she told Neal, as she poured him some tea. She then raised her worried eyes to Shang, who was now frowning. "With all due respect, sir."

"Why do people call you Squish, by the way?" Neal asked, as he sipped the bitter tea and made a face. "Let me guess, you killed your man, too?"

"A most unfortunate accident," she said, letting out a deep sigh. "You see, here am I in the kitchen, minding my own business, when in storms my husband, Phoebus, in a jealous rage. _'You've been screwing the hunchback,'_ he said. He was crazy, and he kept on screaming, _'You've been screwing the hunchback!'_" She paused, and her eyes were distant and full of resignation. "And then he ran into my knife..." she said, raising her eyebrows. "He ran into my knife _ten times_."

Neal stared at her with his mouth half-open, as she appeared to be deeply proud of herself as she finished telling her story. _What was wrong with these people?_

"You see, if you go around asking every person in this ship how they ended up here," Shang said, "you'll realize the stories only get worse."

_'So I should stop asking,'_ Neal thought. He then glanced at the Captain, and realized their conversation had come to an end without him learning anything about Shang's past. Perhaps he would try again the next day, if fate allowed him to.


	33. Chapter 33: Captain Shang

**_Disclaimer: Shang is not mine, the Providence is not mine, Neal is not mine. Too bad. I would be so glad if they were!_**

**_A/N: I decided to dedicate this entire chapter to what happens in the Providence, and I really like how it turned out. I'll return to Storybrooke in Chapter 34. Feel free to review, I intend to post more today, and your comments would most certainly give me a lot of motivation!_**

* * *

**_Chapter 33: Captain Shang_**

_Well I know my death will not come, 'Til I breathe all the air out my lungs, 'Til my final tune is sung… That all is fleeting, Yeah, but all is good… And my love is my whole being._

The next morning, Neal made his way to the deck of the Providence, and tried to ignore Mad Dog Majima's hostile looks from the ship's wheel.

He had spent the previous night fully awake, partially because an insistent cough wouldn't let him sleep, and partially because he didn't want to. It seemed such a waste of time to sleep, when he only had one more day to live. He closed his eyes, and exhaustion washed over him as his body and mind relived the insanity his life had been in the past week or so. So much pain, both physical and psychological, and now he was going to die in the middle of nowhere, far from everything he had known, from everyone he had ever loved. He would die in the Providence, and he would die in vain because they were heading to Neverland when it was Storybrooke that desperately needed them. He had _failed_.

He crossed his arms over the railing in the deck and felt the most absolute emptiness inside him as he stared down onto the sea. He knew he had been an awful son, and that he would never get to be a father to Henry. A double fiasco. Triple, if he took his relationship with Emma into account.

Neal bit his lip and thought about his last moments with each one of them, going through what was said, and what was left unspoken. What he had done, and what he hadn't had time, or the courage, or the _desire_ to do. He pulled the collar of his T-shirt over his mouth as tears ran down his face, because he now realized he had spent so much time stuck in the past that his life seemed to have run through his fingers like sand. He had spent so much time expecting others to love him, and accept him, and forgive him, that he himself had forgotten to love, to accept, to _forgive_.

He wished he could stop thinking about his father, and how he had been cruel to the old man. Rumplestiltskin had his huge share of guilt in all the tragedy that had befallen their family, but no father should ever hear from his own son that he deserved to die.

Especially when said son _didn't want him to._

He wiped away his tears just to find out that they wouldn't stop. It was too late to come to his senses now, because there was nothing he could do to set the record straight. He knew he had boarded the Providence with a one-way ticket, but he had hoped that his death would at least atone for part of his sins when Shang and his crew landed in Storybrooke.

"Please help me," Neal whispered as he lifted his eyes to the sky, wishing someone, _somewhere,_ would reach out for him and help him find a way to bring Shang to his senses.

"I think our conversation yesterday didn't actually end as I wished," Shang said, standing a mere foot away from him by the railing.

His voice made Neal jump.

"How long have you been there?" he asked, as he cleared his throat and hurriedly rubbed his eyes with the collar of his T-shirt.

"I've just arrived," the other man replied. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No," Neal sniffed and tried to regain his composure. Things were bad enough as they were, _many thanks_; he didn't need to have the Captain of the Providence witness his mental breakdown.

"Good," the other man said, as he kept his gaze many miles ahead of him, over the thundering sea. "The name of Ursula's son was Baelfire."

He then turned his face to Neal.

"And you have no idea how many Baelfire's have come to me over the years," he continued, and his voice was calm when he spoke, just like his eyes. "Blond Baelfire's, brown-haired Baelfire's, children, adults, both tall and short, from all over the world, all of them claiming they were the real deal, that they could lead me past Ursula," he said, as he looked deeply into the other man's eyes. "I heard all kinds of stories, but one day, _one day_ I thought I had found the _real _Baelfire, and was so blinded by the possibility of finally being able to travel to distant, unknown lands, that I accepted the challenge."

He breathed deeply, and closed his eyes for a moment before continuing.

"What I didn't know, was that it was all a trap that Hook had set in order to get Ursula to get rid of me," he said at last, and his eyes seemed to burn as he spoke. "And although I could credit him with all the deaths and suffering of that day, I knew that ultimately, it had been _my decision._" He was looking at the sea again, and Neal knew that this time it was because he feared his eyes were showing too much of his feelings. "That day, while I descended the bodies of my crew into the ocean, I promised I would never, _ever,_ let myself be lured into sailing past Ursula again."

_'Me and my bad luck,'_ Neal thought as the Captain finished his tale, and his last fraction of sanity and hope seemed to have been carried by the wind. He felt he would break into a fit of lifeless laughter at any moment.

"That is why I said I can't help you," Shang finished. "I hope you understand."

_He did_. The worst part was, Neal understood. He had done a lousy job presenting his case as Ursula's son, mainly because he remembered nothing about his mother, and everything he seemed to know about their parents' history was pretty much what everyone else knew, which didn't help much.

As if that was not enough, it didn't feel right to blame the Captain for being an exceptionally noble man who wouldn't let any of his men or women die on his ship, even if they were delirious black widows or sadistic one-eyed criminals.

He let out a defeated sigh, and the question he had been meaning to ask Shang for some time now popped to his head.

"How come _you_ ended up in the Providence?"

He watched Shang with interest as the man finally let a sad smile curl his lips.

"I was raised by my father, because my mother passed away when I was just an infant. He was the head of the Chinese army, and a much- feared man, with very strong opinions about pretty much everything in life. Sadly, none of _his_ opinions seemed to match mine, and I could say we spent far too much time finding fault in one another.

"One day, he appointed me as an army captain. I don't really know why, at the time, I thought it was such a great idea, but I remember the prospects impressed me. However, once again the differences in how my father and I viewed life, _and war_, put us at odds with each other. I remember this particular night, when I met him before heading out of our village to train the new recruits of the Tung Shao Pass. As usual, we got into an argument… he complained I was a disappointment as a son, I felt _he_ was a disappointment as a father, and that night, for some reason, I told him something that I had never told him before," he raised his eyebrows, immersed in memories. "I told him how I wished he would _die._"

Shang stopped, and his eyes were vacant when he spoke again.

"And I guess this is how I ended up where I am today," he whispered.

"What?" Neal asked, sensing he had skipped a huge chunk of history in his account. "What happened after you talked to him?"

"He died," Shang answered simply, his face still transfixed as he gazed into the sea. "He actually _died._"

"He died after you told him you wished he would die?" Neal asked, wrinkling his forehead.

"No," he answered, taking a deep breath. "Not exactly after I told him that. It was some time later, when the Huns razed our village. But still, that was the last thing I had told him, that _I wished he would die_," Shang whispered, still looking away. "And _he did_."

"It was not your fault," Neal said, feeling his comment was actually a very silly one. Of course it had not been his fault and both men knew it, but Shang was reaching out for something else. Something he feared he knew all too well.

"Oh, I know that," Shang said, and his voice was void of emotion. "But I spent the rest of my life regretting the fact that I never had the chance to apologize for saying that." He paused, and frowned for an instant. "Actually, let me rephrase that. I would have the rest of my life to apologize, but I _would never hear him forgive me_." He narrowed his eyes as he turned his head to look at Neal. "And you have no idea what_ that_ feels like."

"Not forgiving is one thing… and it charges its price," Shang continued, and Neal realized he had started fidgeting with the ring around his left ring finger. "But when you are the one that needs forgiving, you actually get to know what it feels like to have it denied. And it is a horrible punishment."

By the look on the man's face, memories other than those of his father were clouding his mind as well.

"You were married, weren't you?" Neal asked. "To Mulan?"

He saw the man's face contort in pain for a split second before he regained his composed demeanor.

"I was."

"What happened?"

"We drifted apart. I don't know if she became distant because of my attitudes, or if my attitudes were a result of her apathy towards me. Maybe both," he shrugged. "And she left. All I knew was that I didn't care about war anymore, and one day I walked out in the middle of one. I simply left the battlefield. Fighting didn't make sense to me anymore."

"But you're still a hell of a fighter," Neal muttered, and a sharp bolt of pain that spread around his ribs only reinforced his comment. He was having a hard time imagining that a man like Shang would actually sink that deep, to the point of spending the rest of his life hanging around with a bunch of nut jobs as if _that was what he deserved._

"So are you," Shang replied, as he eyed Neal with gratitude.

"Oh, of course I am," Neal answered, as he rolled his eyes. "Yesterday, when you swept the floor with me? _Nah,_" he waved a hand, carelessly. "_I let _you do it. Didn't want to embarrass you in front of your crowd."

The Captain giggled just like he did when the other man had complained to Squish the day before, and Neal thought he had one extra line to add to his tombstone: 'The man who made legendary Captain Shang of the Providence laugh, _twice._'

He laughed as well, until the memories of all the battles _he_ hadn't fought caught up with him.

"If that makes you feel better," he said, as he turned his back to the ocean and leaned against the ship's railing. "You are not the only bad son on this ship."

Shang crossed his arms, waiting to hear the other man speak.

"My father… he used to be nice. I loved him. I really did," Neal said, as he scratched his chin. "Then one day, he started to kill people and do all kinds of crazy shit with magic. And you know what? I _still_ loved him."

He frowned as he finally reopened that wound and looked closely at his feelings, with the clarity of mind that only a man who knew he was about to die, _and accepted it_, could have. No pain could reach him where he was at that moment.

"But then I started hating him, and I hated him because he was making it so hard for me to love him," he said, looking confused as he did so. "Does that make sense?"

Shang said nothing, but seemed to ponder at his words.

"And then, when he abandoned me, he solved my problem," Neal whispered. "I wouldn't have to worry about loving him anymore, I could simply _hate_ him, and I would be justified. _He deserved it. _I could finally hate him without feeling guilty for it. I hated him, not because I was a bad son, but because _he_ was _a bad father_…" he said, as he stripped down his motives to their core. "Except that all that elaborate train of thought was nothing but _a lie_," he concluded, raising his eyebrows and wondering whether Dr. Eli Sinclair would consider having an apprentice in her office. "A lie, because _I never stopped loving him_."

He then blinked, and realized Shang was staring at him with his mouth half-open.

"You really are Rumplestiltskin's son, aren't you?"

"Guilty," Neal replied, nodding with a distant look in his eyes. "I am."

"Is there anything you would like to let him know before you died?" Shang asked.

"Oh yeah," Neal answered, and couldn't help but laugh at the realization he had spent all that time avoiding his father, only to find out he had far too many things left to tell him… _and now he had no time._ "Many things. But I guess that what I told you a few minutes ago would make a good summary."

"Right," Shang said, adjusting the sword to his waist and patting Neal on the shoulder before he walked away. "I'll try my best to remember as much as I can when I meet him."

Neal's brain, still dazzled by the flow of ideas that had been exchanged in those last few minutes, took some time to process that particular bit of information.

"Majima," Shang yelled. "Adjust route. We're heading to Storybrooke," he looked over his shoulder to gaze at the dumbstruck man by the railing. He then turned to speak to his lieutenant again. "Get everyone prepared, we'll sail into Ursula's territory."


	34. Chapter 34: Reunited

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing. Seriously!_**

**_A/N: Here is the big moment, one of the biggest! *chills* Chapter 34, in which Baelfire comes face to face with his mother._**

* * *

**_Chapter 34: Reunited_**

He could smell the brine, and the wind in his hair soothed his heart as his hands gripped the Providence's railing.

It was happening, and he was not afraid.

"Anytime now," said Shang, as he stood by his side on the deck.

He looked at the Captain and nodded, finding it funny how the man seemed to be taking that moment much more seriously than him. He had made sure Neal was wearing very fancy eastern soldier attire before they actually entered Ursula's territory, and had even draped his own cape around Neal's shoulders, which felt kind of odd. He actually didn't mind. Maybe that was some sort of ritual that meant something to Shang, and he appreciated the thought, nevertheless.

He looked at the sunny sky above them, and thought of what else he wanted to tell Shang before he headed to Storybrooke.

"Tell Henry I'm proud of him," he said. "That I love him."

"You've already said that," Shang responded calmly, with a smile forming on his lips. "Multiple times, by the way."

"I know," Neal replied. "That's the kind of thing that _should _be said multiple times, so that he never forgets."

He lowered his head, and tried to bite back a sudden feeling of sadness that had spread across his chest.

"Tell Emma she still has to learn how to drive stick, from what I can remember," he laughed.

Shang had no idea of what "drive stick" was, but he surely would try to deliver the message in the most possibly accurate way.

"Do you still love her?" Neal asked, when he saw the Captain fidgeting with the ring on his finger once again.

"Who, Emma?" Shang replied, raising an eyebrow. "No, I don't think we've ever met."

Neal's jaw dropped to the floor.

"Hey, hold on a minute," he said, as he reached out for Shang's shoulder. "Have you just _cracked a joke_? Are you feeling_ well?_"

The Captain, for the first time since Neal met him, let out a wholehearted laughter.

"Should I take you to the sick bay?" Neal asked, still chuckling. "It might be contagious!"

Shang was shaking his head, and his laughter was slowly replaced by a silent smile.

"Yes," he answered, without looking at the other man. He knew exactly who he was talking about when he asked that first question. "I guess that even after all this time… I still do."

The two of them exchanged a silent look, and each of them thought of different people, but similar situations.

"Then make sure you tell her," Neal said, patting the other man on the shoulder.

"We're here!" they heard the shrieking voice of Mad Dog Majima announce. "This shit is gonna get real, bitches!"

Night fell upon them, as the loud sound of thunder brought the whole crew to a silent haze. Monster waves started sweeping up alongside the ship, and Neal had to grip the railing as his knees faltered with the impact.

"Drop fore topsail!" Shang yelled to his crew, as he too struggled not to fall.

Rain and salty water poured heavily over them, and the ship shook to and fro amidst the threatening roar of the ocean. The crew was now frantically pulling some ropes and releasing others, and when Neal's half-closed eyes finally settled above the sails, he saw her.

_Dark as night… half a sea monster, half a woman trapped in a cloud of despair… her skin a sickening purple… stars of the Plough for her eyes …_

His mother.

"If that isn't Captain Shang and his little boat, again!" he heard her thunderous voice echo around the ship. "What a surprise!"

Neal felt his heart was racing as his feet led him towards that voice, in an attempt to place himself in a place where she could see him.

"What do you have to offer this time, Captain?" Ursula roared.

"Me," Neal whispered, but Ursula kept sliding towards Shang. She hadn't heard him. "Me!" he yelled, hoping his voice would trump the deafening sound of thunder and waves crashing down upon them.

She whipped her head in his direction.

"And who are you?" she asked, and Neal felt his heart skip a beat. _She didn't recognize him._

"Your son," he yelled, and panic rushed through his veins as seven piercing dots of light bore into him.

"Again?" Ursula roared, as she once again floated towards Shang. "_Again?_ How _dare _you?"

A blinding bold of lightning sent the Captain flying in the air, and when he landed back on the deck with a loud thud, his body was limp.

"No!" Neal screamed again, and he felt his vocal chords were about to break. "I _am_ your son! Baelfire!"

"No, you're not," she had slid towards him in a dark cloud of anger, and he could barely breathe when he felt her tentacles sway an inch from his face. "Because my son died long ago!"

"He didn't!" he answered, and he knew he wouldn't have time to explain how that was possible. He had to think of something else. "_I_ didn't!"

Neal watched her soar above him as soulless laughter engulfed the Providence, and even more brutal waves hit the ship. He squeezed his eyes shut and forced his mind back to when he was just a child…

"Cinnamon!" he yelled, his eyes still closed as he grabbed the railing, feeling that the ship had started to tip sideways. "And rosemary! Your hair… Your hair used to smell of cinnamon… and rosemary!"

The laughter died away. For one moment, only the sound of the rain and clashing waves could be heard.

"And you would sing… you sang to me when I couldn't sleep," he screamed, or tried to, as his voice was far from steady, and trembled at each word. His eyes were burning, and his chest hurt more than he could explain as he dug for those long-lost memories.

Ursula approached him again, and once again he found himself gazing into stars.

"Son?" she whispered.

He swallowed. _That was it._ The time had come. He closed his eyes, and waited.

"Baelfire?"

She called out to him in a soft voice that reminded him of the nights she sang by his bed, and he felt tears run down his face, along with the rain and the ocean.

"Son?" she whispered again. "Open your eyes."

He did, and more tears poured from them.

Her wavy black hair floated in the air, and her strong eyes and fair skin seemed to glow against the dark sky behind her.

"You are so beautiful!" he heard his mother say, and his throat tightened as she smiled, sadly. "I am so, _so_ sorry!"

He stared into her eyes, and all the memories of pain and unhappiness that seemed to haunt both of them rushed to his mind as he spoke in a barely audible whisper.

"Me too."

She kept studying his face, and her eyes seemed full of sorrow and regret.

"Can you forgive me?" she asked.

He lowered his eyes, thinking of how much it had hurt to learn that his own mother had abandoned him when he was just a child. Then, he also remembered the tragic events that followed, and when he looked at her again, his heart was a mess of resentment and pain.

"Son?" she asked again.

He felt his heart was going to break. All these years… and he really didn't know… He felt like a boy again, and wanted to hear it so desperately that it was choking him.

"Do you… do you _love me?_" he asked.

"Oh Bae!" she replied, as she reached out to touch his face, and warmth spread inside his heart. "I love you _so_ much!"

Neal closed his eyes, and let those words wash over him.

"I should have never, ever left you!"

He took a long, deep breath as he wiped his eyes on his sleeve, and waited until his heart quit trying to jump from his mouth so that he could speak again.

"I forgive you," he said, as he lifted his eyes to his mother, feeling his thoughts and feelings had never been clearer.

_He was ready._ She could take him now.

He outstretched his arm and reached out for the tips of her fingers. When they touched, she smiled one last time, before disappearing in a mist of tiny drops of water.

Neal blinked as the soft drizzle fell over him, and the sky slowly opened to show the radiant sun above.

The sea was calm, and the ship slowly stopped rocking.

And he was still in the Providence.

"What the fuck?" he heard Majima scream behind him, breaking the blissful silence.

Yeah, he _most certainly_ was still in the Providence.

"You made it!" Shang had stumbled his way towards Neal, limping. A streak of blood was running from the corner of his lips. "You made it!"

"But I don't understand…" Neal muttered, his mind running wild with the realization he was still alive. "I thought she would take me with her."

Shang coughed, and winced before he replied.

"I guess everyone did," he said, breathing heavily. "I'm glad we were all wrong."

Next thing he knew, the crowd around him, including Shang, was roaring in delight.

* * *

"Of course," said the Blue Fairy as she rushed out of Sisters of Saint Melissa. "That is all she needed to ensure, before striking," she went past the gates with Astrid and Tinkerbell on her heels. "She had to make sure she had the heart back, before unleashing hell."

And that was exactly what they saw when they made it to the street. Houses were now burning as a wave of pirates, trolls and other creatures raided Storybrooke. Snow and Charming were leading the townsfolk in one front, while Emma and Mulan led their own crowd towards the pier, in an attempt to stop Hook and his troop.

"Astrid, you keep going, we'll join you in a minute," Mother Superior Said, as she grabbed Tinkerbell's arm and stopped. "Go and tell Rumplestiltskin that Cora might be shape shifting, and that he should keep that dagger safe from anyone that comes near him."

She watched Nova run as fast as she could towards the pawn shop, and only spoke when the fairy was out of hearing distance.

"You have to promise me you will do everything as we discussed," she whispered, hurriedly, still gripping the other fairy's arm. "I'm leaving everything in your hands."

"I know," Tinkerbell replied, nodding. "She will be fine. _They_ will be fine."

The two of them looked at each other for a brief second, then transformed into sparkling dots of light and headed separate ways.


	35. Chapter 35: The final battle begins

**_A/N: Thanks for your continuous support and, let me say: yes, I totally freaked out when Neal said he could sail a ship last Sunday. I had already freaked out when I saw Hook's hook was poisoned; it felt like one of those déjà vu moments to me! Lol. But, alas, whereas I might have gotten a little close to the real thing in those two aspects, I knocked it out of the park by giving Neal dates, instead of a fiancée, right? Pffff…. Never mind, even that wound will heal. I just feel really sad for my girl Swan... Anyways, the show must go on! I initially thought I would only need 2 more chapters to finish "Ashes", but I was wrong. The final battle turned out to be over 7,000 words long, so I'm breaking it into at least three chapters, plus the prologue. Enjoy, and grab your tissues, because angst is back._**

* * *

_**Chapter 35: The final battle begins **_

"Regina," Cora said in a whisper, as she prepared to leave their headquarters. "You stay, and make sure you guard that heart with your life."

"Yes, mother," the other woman said, as Cora departed from the room in a dark cloud of magic.

Regina Mills smiled. She knew the time had come for them to unleash their wrath over that stupid town and once again put an end to all possible happy endings. But still… Something at the back of her mind reminded that her son was out there, and her mother was not exactly the caring kind.

_'But she would never kill him,'_ she told herself, in a futile attempt to put her mind at ease.

* * *

_Eeeehhh… Sexy lady!_

It was rather unsettling to see Mad Dog Majima leading the rest of the Providence's crew in the most bizarre dance scene in the history of human kind, not so much for the dance itself, but because Neal would have never taken him as the dancing type, not after Majima had almost killed him upon his arrival.

_Op, op, op, op, Oppa Gangnam Style_

Seeing him dancing now, as if there was no tomorrow, was a bit eerie, to say the least.

However, nothing surprised Neal more than a man who could actually find it in him to meditate in the middle of that boisterous mess: Captain Shang was kneeling in one corner of the deck, the tips of his fingers placed together in front of his forehead, in the most absolute silence.

Neal waited until he saw Shang open his eyes and his posture relax to approach him, and when he did, the first thing he realized was that the man had assembled some kind of altar in front of him.

There was a picture of a man right on top of it.

"Your father?" Neal asked, as the Captain rose to his feet.

Shang nodded only once, and his eyes were peaceful. He now looked like a man who just had a huge burden lifted off his shoulders, and Neal contemplated the thought that maybe, _only maybe,_ he had helped the Captain in his own personal journey just like the other man had helped in his, after risking his life, and his crew, to give him a chance.

He then felt a piercing pain on his chest, and his knees hit the wooden surface of the deck as he coughed until he was completely out of breath. He felt his lungs had just torn, and he would drown in his own blood.

As quickly as he could, Shang brought Neal back to his feet, as the other man covered his mouth, shaking violently. When he looked at the scarlet stain in his open palm, Neal understood he didn't have much more time left.

As the Captain reached for a handkerchief in an inside pocket of his coat so that Neal could wipe the blood away, the two men heard a soft thud near them.

"You're alive?" Tinkerbell said, as she landed on the deck of The Providence, and ran to Neal as soon as she spotted him near Captain Shang. "You're alive!"

"I am…" he mumbled. He was finding it hard to stand on his feet, and he felt drowsy. _'Don't know how long for, though…'_

"You're running a fever, Bae," Tinkerbell said, when she touched his face and realized it was abnormally hot, and he was shivering. "Do you have any potion left?"

"Nope," he whispered, trying to smile. "How did you get here, anyway?"

"Your ship has been sighted from the pier," she told Shang, "how long til you get to the shore?"

"Minutes," the Captain replied.

"You should be prepared to fight as soon as you set foot in Storybrooke, or maybe even before that," as she spoke, she took out a bluish wand that had been fastened to her belt, and pointed it to the cut on Neal's arm. "Hook will be waiting for you."

"I didn't know you performed healing spells," Neal whispered. "Is that wand yours?

"No to both questions," she answered back. "I'm no good at healing spells, and this wand is not mine."

He then realized she was not about to give him any further information.

"But," she continued, "given the circumstances, even a little healing is better than nothing, don't you think?"

Neal felt a little tingle on his arm, and soon enough the trembling subsided and he could breathe slightly better.

"I'll have to agree," he muttered.

"Neal and I will go first," Tinkerbell told Shang, who nodded without asking for explanations.

"How?" Neal asked.

"This," she opened her hand to show him a handful of fairy dust.

"Hmm…" Neal raised an eyebrow. "Last time you used it on me the only thing that happened was that I sneezed for days."

"I know, right?" she answered with a grin, and Neal smiled as well. "I'm actually kind of nervous, even though there is no reason for it not to work now."

"Just remember I'm not the luckiest individual to walk on earth," he said, trying not to show that he was nervous as well.

Tinkerbell lifted a glance to him, and for a moment Neal though he had seen sadness cloud the fairy's eyes.

"I wish it had worked the first time," she said. "We would have had so much fun In Neverland."

"I'm sure we would," he replied, and then tried not to let the conversation fall into a pit of sorrow, not after all the heartbreak he had already endured. "But then… I guess I wouldn't have Henry."

"Nope, probably not," she answered shakily, and he saw her chin tremble. "Yeah, one can't have it all…"

"I still don't believe you don't have a heart," he whispered.

She giggled at his words. "I had one when I was locked outside Neverland, and I've just returned, so… some of it is still on my system," she said, shrugging. "Just pay no mind to my blue funk."

"Can't you undo it?" he asked. "Like, get your heart back?"

"My heart being untouched by love is what stops time and heartbreak in Neverland, so I don't know if it would be fair…" she answered, with a little smile curling her lips at the corners. "You know, when I got back to Neverland, time had ticked while I was having a blast with all these mundane feelings, and there was this boy, Big Deal, and he was a toddler when I left, and when I returned, he was taller than you, and his voice was all… _adolescent_," she told him, flinching. "And his hormones are all over the place, and now I have to talk to him about these things and I hate when that happens, I'm just not the mother type…"

"Nope. Definitely not the mother type," Neal said, as he looked at Tinkerbell and remembered the days they had spent together. "More like a big sister," he whispered, as he took her hand in his, and smiled. _'Even with all the limitations',_ to quote the Blue Fairy, for far too many years she had been the only family he had ever known after going through the vortex. "_My_ big sister."

"Oh…" she whispered, as her chin trembled again. "And with that pang in my chest, I'm sure another Lost Boy has just grown a beard!" she said, breaking into laughter. "Seriously, being with you is bad for business!"

Neal laughed as well, and the two of them hugged.

"I'm gonna miss you," he said.

"Gonna miss you too," Tinkerbell replied, quickly clearing her throat and holding his arms to take a better look at him. "Now, you make sure you stick to Emma when we get to the shore. _She needs you,_ more than you can understand now."

Before he could ask how Emma Swan would actually benefit from his likely useless, lifeless presence in the battlefield, Shang touched his shoulder.

"I think it's time you got this."

Neal swallowed at the sight of Shang's sword. _Oh, yeah._ He had forgotten. _He _would end up destroying the dagger. What a nice way to end the day, _killing his own father_.

"Oh, Shang, by the way…" Tinkerbell then unsheathed an equally impressive sword from her belt, and handed it to the Captain.

"Is this…?" Neal heard him ask with a frown.

"Yeah, I trust you to return it to her when you meet her," the fairy replied. "I've fixed its little… _problem_."

"What problem?" Shang asked, still frowning.

"Doesn't matter now," she replied. "But I'm sure Mulan has been able to think more clearly since I took that sword away from her. In time, you'll understand."

After she had cast a final look at the Captain, Tinkerbell turned to the Neal again.

"You ready?" Tinkerbell said, as she placed a hand over Neal's arm.

"Are you?"

"Yes, I am."

She sprinkled fairy dust on his face, and Neal felt his whole body go warm as his feet slowly left the ground.

"Yes, it's working," Tinkerbell said, with a broad smile on her face. "I guess you're officially a Lost Boy now!"

And then, the two of them left towards the shore.

* * *

Rumplestilstkin stood still in front of his house as fire balls, spells, giants and humans approached from all sides. He took a long, deep breath, holding his cane.

The final battle had begun, and if it all ended well, he would be _dead_ before the day was over.

He tried to understand how Henry Mills would fit into that. After all, the boy was supposed to be his undoing. _'Now that is very poor taste,' _he mentally remarked. Not only was his son fated to face death in order to bring into town the only weapon that could destroy his dagger, but now his grandson would get caught in that downward spiral as well?

He genuinely hoped he was wrong.

"Father?"

He turned on his heels at Baelfire's voice.

"Bae?" he muttered, a mix of confusion and surprise spreading around his face. "How?"

"I made it," he saw his son whisper. "And I have it. Shang's sword."

He motioned to the sword fastened to his waist.

"B-but… your m-mother," Rumplestiltskin stuttered, as his heart rejoiced at his son's presence, despite all the alerts his mind was sending him that something was wrong.

"You don't believe me, do you?" he heard Bae say, with an unmistakable strain of disappointment in his voice. "You're going to choose magic over me, _again._"

"No, Bae," he replied, feeling a pang of shame inside his chest for letting his own son think magic mattered more to him than he did. "I will always choose you, son."

"Then let me destroy it." His son's eyes gleamed with boldness. "Let me put an end to it."

Rumplestiltskin closed his eyes. _That was it._ His moment had come.

He slowly reached out for the dagger in the inside pocket of his coat, and handed it over to his son.

"Do it, son," he whispered, as he emptied his mind of all painful memories, and tried not to let grief swallow him. He was going to die, and his son still hated him. He could see it in his eyes.

"Dad?" he heard Henry exclaim from the other side of the street, "You're back! I knew you would!"

He saw Baelfire smile, but his eyes were still cold.

And then, _he understood._

"No…" he whispered, and panic rushed through his veins as the man in front of him started to walk towards the boy, with the dagger firmly secured in his hand. "Henry, no!" He lunged forward, trying to cover the distance between him and his grandson as fast as he could, despite the agonizing pain shooting from his knee. "This is not your fa-"

He could taste blood rising to his throat as the dagger pierced through his chest, and he found himself unable to complete the sentence.

Rumplestiltskin tumbled to the ground, and before darkness engulfed him, he saw Regina standing a few feet away from Henry, frozen. He couldn't hear anything around him anymore, but he knew the boy was screaming as he tried to break free from Regina's grasp, now that she had awoken and moved quickly to take the boy away from the man who still looked at him with nothing but despise in his eyes.

He let out a final breath, and as blood dripped from the Dark One's Dagger, the name Cora replaced his on the blade.


	36. Chapter 36: The last thing he said

**A/N: Okay. This is where all the pieces of the puzzle start coming together. In previous chapters, I tried to drop a few hints that will come in handy to explain what in Sweet Fancy Moses' name is going on right now. I'll say no more! If everything goes well, I'll have the final chapters posted tomorrow night at the latest. Thanks for your reviews and comments, you honestly make me ridiculously happy when you take your time to leave me a note. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 36: The last thing he said**

"Baelfire is a target!" Astrid yelled as she approached the pawn store, warning the Charmings that were fighting outside, before heading in. "Cora is shapeshifting, she will use him to get the dagger!" she kept yelling, as she desperately looked around for Rumplestiltskin. "Baelfire is a target! Where is Rumplestiltskin?"

She then moved back outside and realized Belle had followed her all the way from the Convent.

"You!" she squealed. "What are you doing here, for all heavens' sake?"

"It is a war, isn't it? We, against … _magic?_" said a still amnesiac Belle, slightly out of breath after the run. "I want to help, let me fight!"

"_Fight?_" Astrid asked, in a panic. "Belle, you were supposed to stay in the Convent, with Henry!"

"He told me he would behave!"

"That's what he tells everyone!" the fairy muttered, on the verge of tears. She then remembered she was supposed to find Rumplestiltskin, and dragged the other woman by the hand as she ran to the only other place she imagined he could be.

_His house._

* * *

"Neal?" whispered Emma, as she saw a man nearing the pier. Her eyes were deceiving her, she knew it. There was _no way_ he could be back, but still, she could not stop herself from walking towards him.

Mulan, however, was faster, as she shoved him to a wall and pressed her blade to his neck.

"What are you doing?" Emma screamed.

"I can't let Cora deceive us again!" Mulan replied.

"It's me!" Neal whimpered, feeling the raspy surface of the wall scratch his face. "I'm not Cora!"

_'What a stupid thing to say!'_ Neal admitted mentally, and then realized Emma was standing by his side, with a desperate look in her eyes.

"What's our address?" she asked.

"What address?"

"Our house," she whispered.

He smiled. _What a wonderful thing to hear before he died._ She was not going to sell it, after all.

"What's the address, Neal?" she asked again, with her eyes wide.

"Wait!" he exclaimed, unable to contain the happiness he was feeling now that he knew she didn't hate him as much as he thought she did. "I'm trying to remember the zip code!"

"Neal!" she yelled, on the verge of tears. "We don't have time for that!"

"48indianriverstreettallahass ee," he spluttered, as Mulan's sword was starting to draw little crimson beads from the skin in his neck.

"It's him!" Emma finally breathed out, as relief washed over her.

Not far from where they were, an explosion of red and green sparks covered the sky with a morbid shadow.

_It was coming from his father's house._

* * *

Being able to see the future was not much of a blessing, as many believed.

A_ curse_ would be a better word.

The Blue Fairy headed slowly to Rumplestiltskin's house, after making sure she had given all the necessary instructions to the other fairies in town. She had also updated their allies from other realms on the latest advances, and let Tinkerbell take charge of the things she knew she wouldn't be around to do.

Seeing the future was problematic, mainly because it urged you into certain courses of action that sometimes were not the ones you should actually be taking.

She stopped, and forced herself to go through the images inside her mind one more time.

Ah, _that_ was another problem. Sometimes, you would only learn about the future when it was actually too late to stop it.

_Like now._

Timing was everything. She wondered if she would be too early? _Too late?_ It would only take one mistake for everything to come tumbling down, everything that she had been fortunate enough to see happening in the next few hours.

That is,_ if_ she had gotten the pieces of that puzzle right. She really hoped she had.

If she hadn't, it would be the end of them all.

* * *

"Just give up, Hook!" Tinkerbell yelled, as her sword battled Killian Jones's. "It's over, can't you see? Shang is on his way, and he is going to tear you into pieces."

"No, he won't!" Hook hissed, as he lunged forward and aimed for her chest with his sword.

"He _will_!" she screamed. "Just get your men and get the hell out of here, this battle has nothing to do with you, you stupid man!"

Just then, another warrior joined them, and Hook found himself with one sword pointed at his chest, and another at the back of his neck.

"Oh, if that isn't the brave Mulan," Hook said with disdain, as the warrior moved around to face him, without blinking.

"Stay away from my wife!"

Behind them, Shang had also unsheathed his sword.

"Shang?" Mulan whispered, and as she stared at him, she lowered the sword on Hook's neck for a brief second.

"You're _his_ wife?" Hook asked, with a sneer. "I should have killed you when I had the chance, you know? But, _nothing that can't be corrected_," he hissed, and then pulled a knife from inside his sleeve and charged at her.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!"

Out of nowhere, a very enthusiastic man wearing nothing but an eye patch, leather pants and boots ran past Shang like an arrow.

"Die, mothefuckaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Majima?" It was the only thing Shang had time to ask before his lieutenant hit Hook in the head with his baseball bat, and the other man fell to the ground, unconscious.

"What the hell was that?" Mulan asked, with her eyes wide.

"He's my lieutenant…" Shang replied, quietly. There was far too much to explain, really, so he thought he should leave it at that.

Soon enough, a horde of ravenous pirates burst into the pier, brandishing weapons that ranged from scimitars and spears to broomsticks and saucepans.

"And _that_ is your crew?" she asked again.

"Long story," Shang said simply, as he swiftly disarmed her and pulled her towards him, her face a mere inch from his. "This belongs to you."

His eyes never left hers as his hands moved gently around her waist, and he sheathed the sword Tinkerbell had given him back into Mulan's belt.

"Mulan!" Tinkerbell exclaimed, and the warrior took that chance to resume breathing, something she had clearly forgotten to do as Shang held her against his body. "Where is Emma?"

"They followed the smoke," she replied, still trying to steady her pulse as she looked from the fairy to Shang. "You go, I'll help Shang and his… _crew._"

_'You want some privacy, that's what…'_ the fairy thought with a smile, before winking to Shang and leaving the pier to join the others at Rumplestiltskin's house.

* * *

"Henry," Regina tried to calm the boy down, as tears fell from his face. "Henry, listen to me! I need you to stay here, ok?"

She had dragged her son to a bush near the entrance to Rumplestiltskin's house, and whispered hurriedly before Cora located them.

"Please, Henry, just stay here, and no matter what happens, don't come out!"

The boy, however, didn't seem to be listening anymore.

She took a long, deep breath as she clutched the box in her hands, and prepared to face her mother.

"Regina!" Cora exclaimed, standing next to Rumplestiltskin's body. "It's done, my beloved daughter!"

Regina stopped, glancing at the hellish scenario her mother had created. The house was surrounded by fire and disconnected from the street, as a bottomless pit replaced the sidewalk, its cracked remains scattered all over the place.

"You tried to kill him," she said, and her voice was firm, despite all her anger.

"What are you talking about, child?" Cora said, and her eyes glowed with pride. "I _killed_ him."

"I'm talking about Henry," Regina hissed.

Before her mother could answer, she reached for the heart inside the box and let the container fall to the floor.

"Regina…"

"How _could_ you?" Regina hissed, as her fingers wrapped around her mother's heart, just to find out it was as solid as a rock.

"What are you doing?" Cora asked, not without a note of apprehension in her voice. "You can't kill me now, you foolish, ungrateful girl!"

"Damn right I can't," she whispered back, as angry tears ran down her face. She looked over her shoulder, and her heart broke as she thought of Henry, and how much she had wished to do right by him. Now there was just one thing she could do, as she heard the hustle of footsteps coming from the back of the house.

"But I can give _them_ a chance to do it!"

As she yelled, she took one more step forward and shoved her mother's heart back into her chest. Cora grabbed her arm, gasping, and Regina took that chance to push her towards the edge of what used to be a sidewalk.

She had time to see Henry come out from behind the bush, and when his eyes met hers, she mouthed him an 'I love you', before dragging her mother down the pit with her.

* * *

Neal tried to make sense of the scene unfolding before his eyes when he reached the front of his father's house: Henry stood paralyzed as he watched Regina and Cora fall into the pit, and not far from him, a body lay on the ground.

His heart stopped.

Emma was now holding their son in her arms by his side, and the boy was talking to him.

"It was my fault!" he heard the boy say, as tears ran down his face. "I thought she was you, and she killed Mr. Gold when he tried to save me."

Neal's knees gave away, and he reached out to wrap his arms around Emma's, holding his son as well. He felt he could no longer breathe.

"No, Henry," he whispered, "It was not your fault, don't say that."

He felt the boy shudder, and his own heart broke. When he raised his eyes to Emma's, he realized she was crying as well.

And then it hit him.

_His father was dead._

He saw her squeeze his arm, but all of a sudden he realized he barely felt her touch. _He felt nothing_.

That couldn't be happening. _It didn't make sense._

Around him, he was vaguely aware that more people had arrived. One of them, a dark-haired woman, was walking towards his father's body, with her hands covering her mouth in shock.

The last time they had talked, he had told his father that he _deserved to die_. And now, he was dead. The last thing he said…

He broke into a fit of laughter, much to everybody else's distress. Tears poured from his eyes, but his laughter kept getting louder, as his chest filled with hope.

Neal stood up, and staggered towards his father's limp body.

_The last thing he said was that he could keep his stupid medallion._

_'I gave it back to him,'_ he repeated time and again in his mind, as he searched the man's pockets with trembling hands. _'I gave it back to him, please be here…'_

And then, he felt the tips of his fingers touch a metallic surface, and a chain. He closed his hand around it, and shut his eyes, feeling his heart was about to burst out of his chest. When he finally gathered courage to look at what he was holding, he opened his eyes and saw it glimmering with a dim green light.

_ 'If you are wearing this when death is upon you,'_ his father's words echoed inside his head, _'you will depart from the realm of the living, but will not immediately enter the realm of the dead…'_

"What does this mean?" he whispered, as he stared into the medallion, trying to understand what he was supposed to do with it. "How do I get to him?" he said, and as he lifted his gaze from his father's body to search around for someone that could help him, his eyes fell upon a woman at the edge of the pit, a mere foot from where he was.

_Cora._


	37. Chapter 37: The price of war

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing. 'Should I fall behind' belongs to Bruce Springsteen and Rumplestiltskin's inferno borrows largely from 'Other People', by Neil Gaiman. *bows reverently and apologizes to the boss for her audacity* _**

**_A/N: In which Tinkerbell explains where Rumplestiltskin is and how to get to him. But, as usual, there is a catch, and Neal finally learns what the real price of war will be. Thanks to all of you who have read, reviewed and followed so far, I can't believe Ashes is soon coming to an end! *wipes tears away* We're almost there…_**

* * *

_Now everyone dreams of a love lasting and true_

_But you and I know what this world can do_

_So let's make our steps clear that the other may see_

_And I'll wait for you_

_Should I fall behind..._

_Wait for me._

* * *

**_Chapter 37: The price of war_**

"Now, now… Look who's here!"

That voice, followed by an impish snicker, made Rumplestiltskin's blood freeze.

"If it isn't… the _village coward_."

He turned around to find the source of the disdainful-loaded words, and then, he saw him.

Sitting austerely in a velvety red throne, his leather-clad legs crossed while one of his feet wiggled a pointed-toe boot, the despicable Beast stared at him with his glossy dark eyes, and his sharp teeth were half covered by thin lips that had curled into a sneer.

"Surprised to see me?" the Dark One replied, casting the new arrival a fiery look of contemptuousness.

"Where am I?" Rumplestiltskin asked himself.

"Where do you think, deary?" the man in front of him replied, finally standing up to move towards him. "_I_ am your personal inferno."

He moved his hands in a theatrical gesture, and snickered again.

* * *

Neal's eyes lingered on Cora's for a split second, before he saw a sparkling, buzzing bluish light hover over his shoulder.

It all happened very fast.

He saw Cora outstretch her arms and send a wave of invisible daggers towards him, and he knew he was going to die. Well, at least it would be fast, judging by how powerful that spell seemed to be. The ground was shaking under his feet, and the rumbling sound of thunder threatened to deafen him.

He closed his eyes. So much for a heroic comeback after all he had been through.

_Nothing happened. _

He frowned. Maybe he was already dead?

When he opened his eyes, he saw the Blue Fairy had materialized in front of him, with her arms spread wide a mere foot from where he was. Time seemed to have frozen.

He kept staring at her, trying to understand what had happened in that brief moment his eyes had been closed, trying to figure out whether the fairy had blocked the spell or been hit by it.

And then, before any word could be said, she disintegrated into tiny particles of glittery dust, and he understood it had been the second option.

From frozen to fast-forward, time started ticking again, and he barely had time to feel sorry or grateful before Cora prepared to strike again, with nothing but fury in her eyes. This time, however, someone else had been faster, and an outburst of green light seemed to surround him and lock them in some sort of capsule, with a thick magic wall between him and the other woman.

His head was still spinning when he looked behind him, and saw Tinkerbell had been the one to cast the spell. Her arm was now lowered, but there were faint green sparkles still coming out of the tip of the wand she was holding.

"It's a protection spell," she muttered, her face paler than ever. "But it will not hold out for long."

"The Blue Fairy," he tried to ask, but his voice had caught on his throat. "Is she…?"

"Yeah," she replied, without looking at him. "She's gone."

His eyes caught a glimpse of the wand in her hand, the very same bluish one she had used to heal him in the ship.

"That's why she left you with her wand?" he asked. "She knew she was going to die?"

She nodded.

"She knew she had to save you," she whispered.

Neal felt a lump in his throat. Thoughts were fighting for his attention, stumbling over one another, and he felt his head was about to burst. His whole body was shaking as his lungs seemed to collapse. _He was dying._ The Blue Fairy had died. His father was about to die.

He struggled to keep his eyes open, but the fever got the best of him, and he fell unconscious.

* * *

"Am I dead?" Rumplestiltskin asked, as the Dark One moved around him, studying his prey.

"Oh, not yet," the other man replied, wiggling his fingers excitedly. "But soon, you will be!"

"Where am I?"

"Stuck in between," the Dark One was now hopping up and down on his heels. "Very smart of you, to go around with that medallion."

The medallion. He had stuck in on his coat pocket after his disastrous farewell encounter with Bae, and had paid no mind to it ever since.

"A pity that _no one_ is coming for you!"

The Dark One was doubled over in laughter, and it echoed coldly around the chamber where they were. After he mimicked wiping away happy tears, he walked towards one of the walls, and only then did Rumplestiltskin realize the multitude of scary-looking implements hanging on them.

"What happens now?" Rumplestiltskin asked, although he was afraid he knew the answer.

"Now…" the Dark One hissed with unmistakable pleasure as he picked up what looked an awful lot like a choke-pear. "You will be tortured."

* * *

"Baelfire!"

He blinked, and saw a multitude of people around him. Emma, Henry, Astrid, Belle, the Charmings. All of them had rushed towards him after he had passed out next to his father's body.

"Baelfire!" Tinkerbell's voice called out to him again. "Wake up!"

He coughed as she brought him to a sitting position, and then his eyes rested on his injured arm. A sickening dark stain had spread around his skin and now stretched from his wrist to his shoulder. He felt like throwing up.

"I need to save him," he whispered, still slightly out of breath. He felt a tingling on his arm as the fairy tried to perform another healing spell, but he knew he had very little time left. "Tell me how."

"What do you know about this thing?" she asked with a frown, as Neal reached out to touch the medallion.

"It gives you time… before you actually die," he managed to say after the pain in his chest subdued. "For someone to rescue you."

"That is correct," Tinkerbell replied, but her face remained indifferent.

"So how do I get there? To where he is?" Neal asked, and as he lowered his eyes to his father's face, he realized the old man seemed to be in pain. "How does this work?"

"It's not simple. The place where he is… It's like hell. It's different from person to person, and it is extremely hard to find, unless you are in a state of near death yourself," Tinkerbell explained. "And it's dangerous. Those who try usually never come back. This is rare, unreliable magic."

"Well…" He managed to stand up, and motioned for Tinkerbell to follow him a few steps away from Henry and the others. "I _am_ dying," he whispered, quietly.

She lowered her eyes.

"You can't go."

"What?" he exclaimed, and tried to get the fairy to look at him in the eye.

"If you do, you will never come back" she replied, still looking away.

"I won't be around for long anyway, at least I can bring him back!" he hissed, as anger and frustration pounded in his ears. "Or die trying... Just tell me how!"

"Bae," Tinkerbell finally raised her eyes to his. "You cannot go."

"Why?" he asked again, trying not to let despair take over. He glanced at his father again, and saw that the light in the medallion seemed to be fading away. "We're wasting time, he is still there!"

"Emma needs you here," she answered, trying to keep her voice low.

He ran his hands over his hair. That was insane. His father was dying, and there he was, wasting time with a silly argument with Tinkerbell.

"Is it because of the dagger?" he asked, as he neared the fairy with nothing but contempt in his eyes. "Here! Take the damn sword, _do it yourself,_" he screamed, and he realized heads had turned to look at the two of them. "Now tell me how to save my father!"

"Bae..." Tinkerbell whispered, shaking her head as she looked at him with sorrow in her eyes.

Realizing that conversation was going nowhere, Neal searched around for the only other person who might be able to help him.

"Astrid," he said, as he prepared to walk towards her. "You, please-"

"Bae, stop."

Tinkerbell had reached out to grab his arm, and he was forced to stop on his tracks.

"I can't let him die!" he yelled, as he turned around to stare at her. He tried to release his arm from her grip, but it only got stronger as she pulled him closer to whisper something in his ear.

"_She saw Emma dying,_ Bae," she said quietly, but her voice was loaded with urgency. "Reul Ghorm saw her dying... If you go, you will not return. You will not be there for her."

Neal felt as if someone had reached into his chest and plucked out his heart. His brain had stopped registering the fairy's words after her first sentence, and as he turned around to look at Emma, who stood feet away from them, completely unaware of what was going on, he felt he was no longer alive.

He kept staring deep into her eyes as she held Henry close to her, and the saltiness of his tears reached his lips. What an evil joke their lives had turned out to be. After everything they had been through, this is how it ended. Just when he had actually accepted the inevitability of his own death, destiny slapped him on the face again and showed that was not the ultimate price to pay. _Oh, no._ The woman he loved would die too.

_That_ was the price of war.

His eyes then moved to Henry's, and he felt horribly sorry for the boy as well. What was the point of meeting your parents just to lose them both at once?

"Don't you want to be with her in the end?" Tinkerbell whispered in his ear again. "_Don't you?_ If you go, you won't be able to."

He closed his eyes as he kneeled next to his father's body again, and more tears poured from his eyes. Of course he wanted to be there for her. He would never, _ever_ let her go through that alone. Of course he wanted to be by her side in the end, just so she knew _he had always been with her,_ anyway.

His eyes were still closed when he placed a hand over his father's chest, and he finally understood what that meant.

"Are you telling me to choose..." he whispered, after finally opening his eyes to look at the fairy, "_…between my father and Emma_?"

His question was met with silence, as Tinkerbell took her time to study his pained face before speaking.

"You need to let him go."

Once again, he had to bite back the urge to howl. What kind of choice was that? The hand over his father's chest slowly closed into a fist, as anger and frustration made their way back into his blood stream. His father was still alive. He could save him.

"I can't..." he whispered, and as pain washed over him not for the first time that day, he thought that maybe now was as good a time as any to die.

* * *

"You see…" the Dark One said carelessly, as he cleaned the skinning knife and placed it back on the wall. "I was thinking about using all the other 84 of my toys on you before moving on to the next step… But you know what? I'm feeling bold today. Let's try something _different._"

And then, the true pain began.

The Dark One made him retell his story detail by detail, from his childhood to his latest decisions, and he saw himself revisiting centuries of wrong-doing and regret. He made him remember all the people he had killed, all the deals he had struck, and the only one he had broken. Memories that Rumplestiltskin had buried somewhere dark in his mind resurfaced with blinding clarity, words he had said, things he had heard. What he had done, and left undone.

It was like peeling an onion, and the closer they got to the core, the more he hated himself. He was now begging that the Dark One would go back to the implements on the walls, because the physical torture had been so much kinder.

And the Dark One granted his wish. Soon enough, the spiked metal rings of the Qilinbian were tearing through his flesh as the whip descended onto his back.

"Tell me again what you felt when you killed your wife?" he heard the Beast ask, in a hiss.

"Regret," Rumplestiltskin whispered, as different kinds of pain rushed through his veins.

"No…" his answer had been followed by an impish snicker, and another blow of the whip, "… you didn't."

"I was glad that bitch would never get to screw Hook again," Rumplestiltskin screamed, his eyes tightly shut.

"And you decided to bring her back because…"

"Then Bae would never know I had killed her in the first place."

Rumplestiltskin felt his soul had left him, as he opened his heart and revealed the most abject secrets.

"Too bad that plan didn't go so well, huh," the Dark One replied, as he moved back to his throne, still holding the whip. "Now tell me about Regina."

The other man screamed. He screamed for a long time. When there was nothing but silence, he dug inside his mind for that story again, leaving nothing out, telling everything, every sordid detail of his entanglements with Cora and her daughter. This time he didn't cry. He felt empty, and only self-loaf seemed to fill that void.

* * *

"I'll do it," said a female voice behind Neal.

He forced his eyes away from his father's face and found himself looking at a very confused Belle, who was clasping her hands nervously.

"I'll go," she said. "I'll bring him back."

Behind her, Astrid had a conflicted expression in her face, as if wondering whether she should try to convince Belle to change her mind or encourage her to keep going.

"Do you have _any_ idea what you are talking about?" Tinkerbell asked, with a frown. "Where you are offering to go?"

"No," Belle answered simply, and Neal couldn't help but notice her eye had twitched when her gaze finally met his. "I'm just following my heart," she let out a little smile, "…even if doesn't make any sense!"

Neal saw her shrug, as she still smiled at him. That woman, for whatever reason, had really taken his advice to heart, and the fact she was reaching out for his father even without remembering him filled his heart with a mixture of gratitude and perplexity.

"It's far too complicated…" Tinkerbell replied, as she scratched her head.

"I can do it!" Belle's confidence seemed to grow bigger, despite the dire prospects. "I don't know how, but I know I can."

"Oh my…" the fairy sighed, shaking her head. She then looked from Baelfire to Astrid, from Astrid to Belle, and from Belle to the fading light in the medallion. "Do you understand you might _never come back_?"

"I do," Belle replied, and her eyes seemed to spark.

"And you still want to go?" the fairy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes."

"Fine," Tinkerbell took a long, deep breath before talking again. "Whatever happens, if you see a light, don't follow it. Simply run the opposite direction and… well. _Good luck._"

With that, she shoved her hand past the woman's neck, and Belle's limp body fell to the ground.

* * *

"Again," said the Dark One, looking deeply amused.

And he did. Rumplestiltskin told his story again, and now he would learn about consequences. About how many lives he had ruined, how many people had been affected by his selfishness and cowardice, how much his addiction to magic had consumed him… and how it had driven away the people that loved him. The people that he loved.

Of course _no one was coming for him._ That was what he deserved.

"Rumplestiltskin?" he heard a female voice whisper, somewhere behind him.

"The only thing you have to offer is grief," the Dark One whispered in his ear, and his heart sunk further into darkness. "If you really understand what a disease you are to the world, then you will never go back, even if they come for you."

"Rumplestiltskin?" the female voice seemed more urgent now. "You have to go back!"

"They are better off without you…"

"Rumplestiltskin!"

He turned his head, and saw the shape of a woman wrapped in light. He couldn't see her face well enough, but he knew that voice.

"Belle?"

The woman said nothing.

"She doesn't love you," the Dark One hissed again. "She's here because she feels sorry for you."

"You have to go back," she said, and when Rumplestiltskin could finally see her eyes, he realized she was scared. "Your son needs you… He is waiting for you."

Rumplestiltskin lowered his eyes. His son was dying, and it was his fault. Not only had he made the boy's life miserable in more ways than he could grasp, but now Bae was going to die, and it was his fault. Baelfire would be better off without him.

"Please come with me. He loves you."

He shook his head, and his chest burnt again with sorrow and shame. He did not deserve to be loved.

"You love him. Be brave," Belle said again. "I know you can do it."

He raised his eyes to hers again, and the light around her seemed to sooth his injured soul. He thought of telling her that he had never been brave in his life, but all words seemed to have fled from him, so he just let himself get lost in those blue eyes. _She believed in him._ She had no reason whatsoever to, but she did. She saw something in him that he didn't.

"Please," she whispered, as she outstretched her arm.

"If you go…" he heard the Dark One say as he hesitantly took one step towards Belle. "You will _regret it._"

"No," Rumplestiltskin muttered, without looking at the man behind him. "If I stay… _then_ I will regret it."

"You have been warned," hissed the Dark One, with a menacing look in his beastly face.

Ignoring that final threat, Rumplestiltskin reached out for Belle's hand. They touched, and the last thing he heard was a painful scream behind him as his body seemed to fall into a pit.


	38. Chapter 38: Dante's Prayer

**_Disclaimer: Unfortunately, none of these lovely people belong to me, and "Dante's Prayer" belongs to my muse, Loreena McKennit. I have to say I wrote a great deal of this story listening to her music, and this particular song was what actually led me into writing Ashes, in the first place. I always knew how I wanted it to end, even before the beginning._**

* * *

**_A/N: Here it is, everyone, how the final battle ends. Long chapter ahead, but it just didn't feel right to break this in two pieces. I truly hope it touches your heart. If it does, please review! I truly love to hear from you! _**

* * *

_Breathe life into this feeble heart, lift this mortal veil of fear_

_Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears_

_We'll rise above these earthly cares_

_Cast your eyes on the ocean, cast your soul to the sea_

_When the dark night seems endless, please remember me_

_Please remember me._

* * *

**_Chapter 38: Dante's Prayer_**

Tinkerbell ignored the scared gasps around her as Belle's body tumbled to the ground, and wiped her forehead as she walked away from the group.

The protection spell was beginning to crack. She shook her head with her hands on her waist, and looked at the wand she was holding. That damn thing weighed more than it let show.

"I should have stayed in Vegas…" she muttered to herself, remembering that fatidic day when Baelfire had called her, and she drove all the way to the East Coast without much of a second thought. But then again, Manhattan also had its hidden jewels when it came to nightlife possibilities... Perhaps she could just sneak out of the battlefield while no one was looking, and go get her car that had been towed to somewhere in the little town?

"Bullshit…" she muttered again. "Your Veracruz must be past by now," she said, realizing that Storybrooke was coming up in flames as she digressed. Probably, so was her beloved car.

She glanced around and saw Neal still kneeling next to his father, with Emma and Henry by his side. Nova was crouching near Belle, making sure to arrange the woman's limbs so that she could stay there, on the cold ground, with a minimum of dignity.

Tinkerbell scratched her head, again. She had no idea how long Belle would take to find Rumplestiltskin, when they would return,_ if_ they would return, and once the protection spell wore off, things would go from bad to worse very quickly. They just could not afford to wait.

"Just keep your eye on the ball…" she said to herself, as she closed her eyes and tried to remember what the Blue Fairy's instructions had been. Then, she realized that either the other fairy hadn't seen half of the things that were happening, or she had chosen not to tell her, which only made her job even more complicated.

Still lost in thought, she kept walking, until she accidentally kicked something. As she lowered to see what it was, her eyes grew wide.

"Henry!" she exclaimed, as she remembered what she had heard the boy say when she got to Rumplestiltskin's house.

Tinkerbell quickly walked towards the boy, and the Charmings, who were talking quietly not too far from where the fairy was, joined her as she reached Henry and kneeled in front of him.

"Henry," she repeated, casting Emma a worried look. "I'm sorry, kid, but I have to ask you this. I know it is bad, but it is really important," she then touched his face, ignoring the fact Emma's protective aura threatened to scorch her. "I need you to tell me what you saw before Regina and Cora fell into the pit."

Henry's face twitched, and he sniffed. Emma tightened her grip on his shoulder.

"You don't have to do this, Henry," she whispered.

"Yes, he does," Tinkerbell said, but her voice was soft. "I'm so sorry to make you relive those moments, Henry, b-"

"I saw my mom… Regina… I saw her take something… from the box," he said, looking at his own feet. "But I couldn't see what it was."

"That is ok," the fairy whispered, rubbing his arm reassuringly. "What happened then?"

"She shoved something through Cora's chest, and then… then…" tears now ran from his eyes, and Emma pulled him into a hug.

"That is enough," Emma said, throwing Tinkerbell a dirty look that dared her to open her mouth again.

"Indeed it is…" Tinkerbell whispered, with a vacant look in her eyes. "Thank you so much, Henry."

She stood to her feet, and this time it was Neal she was talking to.

"We can't wait anymore."

"What do you mean?" his weak voice responded.

"I mean the protection is about to give away… And this," she turned around and pointed to the two bodies on the floor. "This could take forever."

"What are you suggesting?" Charming stepped forward and spoke for the first time since he and Snow arrived at Rumplestiltskin's house, and witnessed nothing but insanity. Regina was dead, The Blue Fairy was dead, Rumplestiltskin was… well, kind of dead, now so was Belle, and Cora was the new Dark One. Not to mention Neal. He was not dead yet, but by the looks of it, it wouldn't take that long for him to be. "Are you saying we should just walk out and let them die?"

"No one is walking out," Tinkerbell replied, as she looked from him to Snow. "But we have to get organized here."

"Just cast another protection spell!" said Snow, as she too moved closer to the fairy. "Just do it again, and we'll have time t-"

"Snow, love, you don't quite get it, do you?" the fairy replied, fidgeting with the wand in her hand nervously. "You know why the Blue Fairy turned into dust when Cora's spell hit her?" she asked, and her voice was dead serious. "Because there is only one person here who is powerful enough to defeat that woman. It was not her, and it is not me."

"Who?" Snow asked, but she feared she knew the answer all too well.

"Me," Emma whispered, as she stared blankly into the fairy's face. "It's me, I have to do it."

As she spoke, she pressed Henry even more tightly against her.

"Yes, Swan," Tinkerbell replied, "_You._"

Near them, Neal let out a sigh, and his eyes were distant.

"But why?" Emma asked, and suddenly a bad feeling squeezed her heart. "How?"

"Henry," Tinkerbell said, after rubbing her eyes and taking a long, deep breath. "Can I ask you a favor? The last one, I promise." The boy simply nodded. "Can you take Nova inside your grandfather's house and help her find where he keeps his magical stuff?"

He nodded once again, and before he and Nova went inside the house, Tinkerbell grabbed her arm, and whispered in her ear.

"Just keep him busy for five minutes, then come back."

She waited until the two of them had walked past the door to speak again.

"Emma, there is only one person among us who is likely to be even more powerful than you, merely due to the fact he was tutored more appropriately than you were."

"Henry," the other woman whispered.

"Yes. Your son," Tinkerbell replied. "But he is way too young to fight this battle, Emma. That means…"

"That it has to be me," Emma replied. "But why? I'm not that special."

"Emma, please," her mother had reached out for her, and was now holding her face between her hands. "Don't you _ever _say that again."

"You're the product of True Love, Swan," Tinkerbell explained. "The most powerful magic of all."

"I don't know if I can do this," Emma replied, as her father also reached out to touch her shoulder.

"You don't have to do this alone," Neal said, as he also stood to hold her hand in his. "Looks like you're stuck with me, again."

He tried to smile, but Emma could see his eyes were horribly sad. She hated to admit it, but she knew him far too well to know that there was something he was not telling her.

"Neal," she whispered. "What is it?"

He swallowed, and avoided her eyes. Whatever it was, it was worse than she imagined.

"I'm not gonna make it, am I?" she asked, and when his eyes shot back to hers there was so much misery in them that she felt her own voice catch in her throat.

"Emma, of course you'll-" Snow said, before she was crudely interrupted by Tinkerbell.

"No."

Emma felt Neal's grip on her hand tighten.

"What?" it was Charming's turn to talk. "This is ridiculous, of course she's gonna make it! She's the Savior!"

"She is, and she will save us, but…" Tinkerbell cleared her throat. There was no point sugarcoating it. _"She'll die."_

"No," Snow was shaking her head with a strange smile. "No, she won't. I won't let her. _We_ won't let her."

"Snow…"

"No!" she screamed. "I'm not letting any more family die! Especially not my daughter!" she swallowed her tears and took one step back. "I've always done the right thing, and I've always paid a very high price for it. If that is the price for good to prevail, I am _not_ gonna pay it. I am _not_ letting Emma die!"

"Snow…" Tinkerbell tried to approach the woman again, but she just kept glaring at her with nothing but hate in her eyes. "Snow, the Blue Fairy told me that you, of all people, you are the one who should have faith. This is how it's got to be."

"No," she muttered, taking another step back.

In the meantime, Henry and Astrid had joined them.

"We couldn't find anything," Henry announced, sadly. "I'm sorry."

"That is ok, kid," Tinkerbell said, as she touched his arm and gave him a faint smile.

"Grandma?" he asked, looking at Snow with a frown. "Why are you crying?"

Snow covered her mouth as tears poured from her eyes, and Charming pulled her into a hug as he also tried, rather unsuccessfully, not to let grief take over.

"What is going on?" Henry asked, when he finally realized that not only Snow, but everyone else, was either crying or about to.

"Hey kid, come here," Neal said, as reached out for his son. "We've been here before, right? The talk," he smiled, as he once again kneeled before his son, his heart heavier than ever. "Funny how sometimes things don't happen the way we expect, right?"

He rubbed the boy's arms, and around him, he realized people were moving away to give the little family a moment of privacy.

"So…" he continued, after clearing his throat. "Your mother and I, we have to put an end to this," he paused, as Henry shifted his glance to his mother, who had also kneeled next to him. "And… it's not going to be easy."

He stopped again, and watched Emma's chin tremble as she prepared to speak.

"Henry, I love you so, _so much!_" she said, and Neal had to force himself to keep breathing as she held the boy's face in her hands and kissed his forehead.

She saw him pull the boy into a tight embrace, and then covered their arms with his. He could feel her heart beating fast as one of his hands slid up and down her back, and he clutched Henry's arm as he breathed deeply. _There it was, the little family they had always wanted to have._ They had finally found it, and for a moment, Neal just wished time would stand still.

"Henry," he heard Emma say, as she pulled away from the hug. "Henry, promise me you'll be strong," she whispered, looking at her son after wiping her tears away, "…that you won't ever, _ever_ forget, how much we love you."

Neal grabbed her hand again and squeezed it even harder, and felt she had squeezed his as well. Henry remained quiet, as if all the events of the day had finally gotten to him.

"Son?" she whispered, trying to get the boy to look at her.

Neal shuffled the boy's hair, and lifted his chin so that their eyes met. And when he saw the tears in his son's eyes, he completely forgot whatever it was he had planned to say.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," whispered Tinkerbell, quickly realizing that the Blue Fairy leaving her in charge would soon earn her the title of the 'most hated person of the year', "but Henry, you should go with Nova now."

Neal nodded, but Emma kept her hand on Henry's shoulders.

"It's ok, baby…" he whispered, as she finally let go of the kid. "He'll be fine."

As Nova and the boy walked away, Tinkerbell turned to talk to the two of them again.

"Are you guys ready?" she sighed, after spending a few moments studying the couple before her. _The two idiots._ Why did they have to complicate things so much?

"I have to…" Emma said, as she let go of Neal's hand and motioned to the Charmings standing by the door, "…my parents…"

"Yeah, you go do it," Tinkerbell said, without really knowing what to do. Goodbyes, tragedies, wars, people dying. She was _so not fit_ for that job. "And you…" she turned to Neal. "You should say goodbye to him, too."

Neal lowered his eyes to his father's body, and saw that the light in the medallion still shimmered, but extremely faintly by now. He shook his head, as he held his father's hand in his.

"Yeah, old man…" he said. "This world is really full of surprises."

He felt the corners of his eyes prickle, but he really could not afford to let any more of his energy melt away in tears. It was not as if he had any of it left in him, anyway.

"I'm sorry about what I said…" he whispered, and then swallowed. "People can be mean when they are angry…"

_'Oh, so much for the 'I shall not cry' part,'_ he thought, before laughing while tears fell from his eyes.

"Can you forgive me?" he asked, as he looked at his father's face expectantly. And then, his eyes fell upon the medallion, and he realized it was no longer shimmering.

He covered his eyes as his heart sunk even lower, and he finally understood he would never hear the answer to that question.

He kept holding his father's hand, unable to let go, unable to believe his father was really dead. His grip on the other man's hand was so strong that he actually felt like the other man was squeezing his hand as well.

"Can _you _forgive me?" he heard his father's voice inside his head. Oh, now that question would echo inside him forever. "Can you… _Bae?_"

Neal kept his eyes closed. His father's voice was so real in his head that he almost believed the man was really talking to him.

"Bae?"

And then he opened his eyes, and saw that the reason why his father's voice sounded so real was because the man _was really talking to him._

"Papa?"

"You have nothing to be forgiven for, my boy," Rumplestiltskin answered, as he clutched his son's hand, "I, on the other hand…"

For a split moment, Neal just stared at the other man's face in utter disbelief. Then, he replied in the only sensible way he could think of.

He pulled his father into a bone-breaking embrace.

"I am so, _so sorry,_ Bae…"

"I missed you so much," Neal whispered, with his eyes tightly shut.

"I missed you too," Rumplestiltskin's shaky voice replied, and after those words, the two of them fell silent. _Nothing else needed to be said._

Neal wiped away his tears and smiled, feeling that moment with his father had blown an extra inch of life into his battered heart. When he looked up, he saw the Charmings had approached, and that Astrid was kneeling next to Belle's immobile body with a confused look on her face.

"Belle…"

His father had turned his head to look at the woman lying by his side, and his face was pale as he muttered.

"Oh no… Belle… No…"

Only then did Neal realize that his father had returned, but Belle hadn't. He searched for Tinkerbell's face, and saw the fairy had a knowing look on her eyes.

"She stayed behind," she replied, reading the question on Neal's face. "Wherever it is that you were…" she told Rumplestiltskin, "she is still there."

"No!" the man's face grew even paler, as a faint recollection of the horrors he had experienced flashed before his eyes. "How do I bring her back?"

"You don't. She needs to find her way out."

"She went there for me, I can't leave her there!"

"Then stay by her side, and help her."

"How can I?" Rumplestiltskin asked, and despair strained his voice. "I don't have any magic left!"

"You sure?" Tinkerbell said at last, raising an eyebrow. _Humans._ She wondered if they did it on purpose, or if they really were that blind. She rolled her eyes, and then turned to the other fairy. "Nova, can you add two more people to your travel arrangements?"

"I suppose so."

"Good," Tinkerbell said, as she helped Neal bring his father to his feet and spoke to Rumplestiltskin. "You make sure to look after Henry, as well. You're his grandfather, and he needs you."

The older man looked around, and his eyes met Henry's. He then glanced at Neal again.

"But son, you-"

"Please," Neal answered, as he placed a hand over the man's shoulder. "I'll feel better if I know you're with him. I'll… I'll be fine."

Both men knew that it was not entirely true, but neither said a word as they exchanged a very meaningful look.

Behind them, Emma was still trying to say her goodbyes to her mother, who had stubbornly turned her back on her.

"Mom…"

"I've already told you I'm not gonna do it, Emma," Snow said, as she pretended to prepare her bow. "I'm not saying goodbye."

Emma let out a sigh when she realized Snow was final on her decision. She then smiled, and flung her arms around her mother anyway, placing her chin over Snow's shoulder.

"You're so stubborn, you know?" she whispered. "Now I see where I got that from!"

She felt Snow sob, and not much after that, her own arms had been covered by her father's, who was soothing her hair silently.

"You know, that is why I didn't specialize in grownups…" Tinkerbell told Neal, as the two of them watched the Charmings after Nova and the others departed in a mist of fairy dust. "You guys… it's a hell lot of work. I don't know how Reul Ghorm managed."

Neal simply crossed his arms as he saw Emma finally walk towards them.

_He never got tired of looking at that woman._

"You have no idea…" he whispered, indulging himself in memories from a much less troubled time, when getting away from angry store owners was the hardest part of their day.

"So," Emma said, taking a long, deep breath as she finally reached the fairy and Neal. "What now?"

"Ok," Tinkerbell placed the wand in her belt, and rubbed her hands. "From what I understand, Cora has her heart back, and that means she can be killed. I mean, blessed be Regina Mills, _seriously_."

"That's a good beginning," Emma said, tucking her hands in her pockets. "But how do we get her killed?"

"By destroying the dagger," the fairy replied.

"But we need to get the dagger," Emma said. "Is that where I come in? I have to steal her dagger?"

Neal couldn't help but chuckle.

"What's so funny?" he heard her ask, clearly annoyed.

"Nothing," he answered, rubbing his eyes. "It's just… _ironic,_" he cleared his throat. "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"Uh, no, that is actually my job," Tinkerbell said, unaware of the ambiguity in her words as she raised a finger to her lips, looking thoughtful. "I'll lift the protection spell, disarm Cora, and what you have to do is keep her busy while your man destroys the dagger with Shang's sword."

Neal noticed Emma's eyes had grown wide when the fairy said the words _'your man'_, and he chuckled again.

"Neal, what is wrong with you? It's not funny!" Emma hissed.

_'It sure as hell is,'_ he thought to himself, as he noticed the woman by his side getting even more flustered. What a wonderful thing the human mind was. There they were, at the gates of death, and all he could think of was how pretty she looked when she got angry.

"Are you ready?" Tinkerbell said, as she flexed her fingers, and quickly drew the wand on her waist. By her side, Neal unsheathed his sword, twisting his wrist and looking at the blade with a boyish look on his eyes.

"Hey, wait a minute," Emma said, in a panic. "What about me, what is my weapon?"

"Your heart," the fairy replied, as she held up the wand and prepared to lift the protection spell. "Just feel the moment!"

"What?" Emma looked sick.

"Don't overthink it, Swan" Tinkerbell screamed, after the spell was broken and wind and smoke and dust blew all around them. "Just listen to your heart!"

"Oh, you have to be kidding me!"

Neal smiled one last time at Emma's words. His nose had started bleeding again, and he was trying to stop it by pressing his sleeve to it. He was vaguely aware that his arm was going numb, and so was his face… He felt his eyes were trying to close, but he couldn't go down now. Not when they were so close.

Emma had time to see her parents run into the battlefield to fight Ogres, evil fairies and all the army that seemed to be scattered around Storybrooke and only now had access to where they were. Her eyes kept searching for Cora, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Looking for me, darling?" she heard a voice behind her ask, and before she knew she felt something like a whip burn past her skin.

"_The Savior_, they say" Cora whispered, as Emma tried to get back to her feet, despite the blinding pain that spread across her injured back. "What is it about this family of yours that everybody feels _so special?_"

When Tinkerbell finally spotted the two women about to engage in battle, she swirled the wand in her fingers, pointed it at Cora and prayed for that spell to work.

"Oh!" she muttered, and relief washed over her when she saw the dagger fly from Cora's hand to the floor, mere inches from where Neal was. "Than-"

Her voice died in her throat when she saw that the man had blacked out.

All of a sudden, not only the fairy, but Cora and Emma had come to the same realization. All eyes were on Neal, and judging by the Dark One's evil glare, whether he was dead or merely unconscious would very soon be an immaterial detail.

'No!" Emma yelled, as she outstretched her arms exactly the same moment Cora prepared to summon the dagger. A bolt of blinding light stunned the older woman, as Emma watched her own hands in shock. Cora, however, was quick to counterattack, and soon the two women were connected by their own opposing spells, as sparks flew everywhere and the ground began to shake.

_'Of course! Things just can't go right!'_ Tinkerbell was now cursing in every language she knew as she flew to Neal's side_. 'Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead!'_

He didn't seem to be breathing. As she pressed two fingers to his neck, she realized he had no pulse.

"Oh, no," she whispered, taking out her wand and pointing it to the injury on his arm, only to find out that the black stain didn't seem to recede in the slightest. She tore his shirt open, and gasped after seeing the stain had spread from his shoulder to his chest.

In the meantime, Emma Swan was getting drained by Cora, and things would deteriorate very fast unless she did something. She looked from the sword to the dagger, then to Emma's veins that seemed about to burst in the effort to keep Cora under control, and then to the man in front of her.

"Wake up, kid, wake up!" she hissed, slapping him in the face. "You're supposed to destroy that dagger, not me!"

He still didn't move.

"You're not giving me much choice, you know?" she whispered, and after taking a long, deep breath, she shoved her hand in his chest, wrapping her fingers around his heart and squeezing it.

Neal's eyes shot open as he screamed in pain.

"What the…?" he muttered, still trembling, as he saw half of the fairy's forearm still stuck inside his chest. _"What?"_

She took her hand out, as freaked out as he was at the situation.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" the fairy muttered. "You were not breathing!"

He got to his feet and grabbed the sword, still profoundly disturbed by the whole situation. He shook his head as adrenalin rushed through his veins, and he spotted the dagger a few inches from him.

"I got this," he told Tinkerbell, and his breath was shallow. "You go help the Charmings."

His hand tightened around the hilt of his sword, as he took one final look at the wretched knife that lay by his feet. So much tragedy and bloodshed… The reason why he had grown without a father… The reason why so many people had grown without a family as well.

_It all ended today._

He brought down the blade with a swift twist of his wrist, and an explosion of power and shadows swept the grounds around his father's house. Not far from where he was, Cora let out a silent cry as her whole body turned to stone, and then cracked into millions of tiny pieces of nothing.

Just then, he saw Emma's body tumble to the floor.

He felt his sword slide down his fingers as all sound around him seemed to disappear, and she was the only thing he saw. He was vaguely aware that spells and arrows were flying past him, and he couldn't possibly care less. As long as he reached the woman lying on the floor, it didn't actually matter what would happen to him. He just needed to get to her.

"Hey…" he said, feeling the now familiar buzz in his head as he kneeled next to Emma and held her hand inside his. "Hang on, baby…"

"Neal…" she whispered, wincing at the pain that spread across her back, but unable to bring herself to a more comfortable position. "You... you look like crap."

She saw him smile, and it made her heart beat a little more strongly.

"You too," he replied, as he carefully brushed away a bang of her hair that was falling over her eye. Her face was pale, and her eyes were red and teary. "But despite that… I still love you."

She clutched his hand, and smiled sadly.

"I really,_ really_ do," he said.

"Why are you saying that?" she asked, and each word that left her mouth made her chest ache.

"Just thought you should know…"

Neal looked into her bloodshot eyes, and for one moment they were back in Portland, and she was stealing his stolen car… And then they were having a drink… And then she was his wife on their way to Eugene as they robbed another convenience store…

"I'm cold," she said, in a distant whisper.

And now, _he was losing her._

"Here…" he murmured, biting back his tears as he rubbed her arms and tried to make her warmer. "It's alright…"

"Oh God you're freezing…" she said, before laughing. "Oh we're pathetic."

"I know, right?" he laughed too. "I'm sorry."

Their laughter slowly subsided, and her eyes were once again full of sadness.

"Henry…" she whispered, as a tear ran down her face.

"He'll be fine," Neal said, quickly wiping the tear away with his thumb. "He's got your nerve."

"Yeah..." she smiled again, and he saw her chin tremble, "and your swagger."

It was his turn to smile.

"Neal?"

"Yeah, baby?"

She tightened the grip on his hand as she looked into his tired eyes. He was so pale! With her other hand, she touched his cheek, and remembered how much she had waited to see him again ever since that horrible night… How much she had wished to be with him again, even if it was just to see that smile on his face, or that look in his eyes, _one last time._

She was happy she had gotten her chance.

"I love you too," she said, and her voice was nothing but a faint whisper.

She smiled, and then Neal felt that her grip on his hand had loosened as her eyes fluttered closed.

"It's alright, baby… It's alright," he cradled her head in his arms, caressing her hair as his heart slowly stopped beating. _"We're almost home."_

And then, just as his sight was beginning to blur, he lowered his lips to hers, and thought, as they shared one last kiss, that it was not such a bad way to die, after all.


	39. 39: Of strangers,tombstones and laughter

_**Disclaimer: Tinkerbell's name on her driver's license belongs to Frasier. Goodnight, Seattle!**_

* * *

_**A/N: I am terribly sorry for not updating Ashes any sooner, but my health has let me down badly for almost one week now. I was planning to close this story with one or two chapters max, but as usual… There will be more, because things just keep popping into my head! I'm posting two chapters today, and I'll leave the last one plus the epilogue **__**for tomorrow, before my fever gets the best of me. Thanks once again for your support and reviews, I hope you enjoy!**_

* * *

_**Chapter 39: Of strangers, tombstones and laughter**_

Elaine Saint-Ries was not the kind of person who would jump into a car with a complete stranger. Oh no, _she wasn't._ But then, everybody had their Achilles' heel, and hers was a certain fellow stockbroker who had been missing for almost a month.

Therefore, when that woman showed up at the NYSE's trading floor saying she knew where Neal Cassidy was, and it was urgent that she, Elaine, came with her, she had no choice. She just couldn't say no.

Now, she was beginning to regret it.

As soon as the mysterious driver got off the car to go into a rather suspicious-looking mixture of gambling parlor and liquor store, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed the first number she saw.

"Montgomery? Saint-Ries here," she whispered, glancing nervously out of the window. "What? Of course I'm not on the trading floor, I left hours ago, idiot. Oh, never mind, I'm sorry. Listen, listen," she said in a hurry, as her eyes darted from the rear-view mirror to her own window. "I'm just calling to let you know that I'm off to find Cassidy. Yeah. There is this woman, she says we are heading to Fairybrooke. I know. I haven't heard of it either. It's somewhere in Maine, she says, but listen, what I want you to know is that maybe…" she paused to wipe out the sweat on her forehead. "Maybe it's all a setup. Seriously, there is something fishy going on. So, if I don't come back in 24 hours or so, call the police, she is my height, skinny, has long orange hair, and is wearing some kind of Armani suit. What about her eyes? I don't know, she is wearing shades!" she hissed, realizing the woman had just left the store and was now walking back to the car. "Oh, and she drives a silver Acadia, but I forgot to take down the license plate number, damn! Gotta go."

She managed to slide her phone back into her pocket just as the redhead got back into the car.

"Do you mind holding this?" Elaine heard her ask, after handing her what looked like a bottle in some beautifully-crafted Furoshiki wrapping.

"What is this?"

"Oh, nothing," the other woman whispered, as she took out a card from a small envelope and wrote a few words, biting her tongue as she did. "Just a little something… for a friend."

Elaine watched as she tucked the card carefully into one of the folds in the bottle wrap, and started the car.

"Sorry to bother you," she asked, eying the driver nervously. "But what is your name again?"

The other woman let a mischievous smile curl her lips before answering.

"Tamara."

"Oh," Elaine replied, with a frown. "I thought it was something like, Veronika?"

"Nope," the other woman replied, with the same little smile on her lips. "It's Arlene. I'm positive."

"Wait, you'd just said Tamara!"

"You can check my driver's license, if you don't believe me."

'_And why wouldn't I believe you?' _Elaine thought, as she reached out for the glove compartment and fished out a handful of documents from it. "Ha!" she exclaimed, raising an eyebrow. "Unless I'm reading it wrong, it says here that your name is Daphne Moon."

"Oh yeah… Daphne," the redhead whispered, looking thoroughly entertained with the confused look on the other woman's face. "I forgot."

"Now what kind of person forg-"

"It's cold in here, isn't it?"

"I don't think-" Elaine tried to speak again, only to be interrupted by the woman once more.

"Let me turn on the heater."

"It's not…" she whispered, all of a sudden too fuzzyheaded to argue as warm wind twirled around her, "…_necessary."_

* * *

Something had changed in Storybrooke.

Unexplainably, the barriers separating it from Fairytale Land seemed to have shifted, and now its citizens found themselves somewhere in-between. Granny's, Mr. Gold's pawn shop, the Charmings' residence… They were still there, and their flimsy and half-destroyed walls were a brave statement against the wretchedness of war.

Nothing seemed to be out of place, except for those spots that had been replaced by their Enchanted counterpart: the Troll Bridge, the Firefly Hill, Lake Nostos. The small town now looked like a freshly-assembled jigsaw puzzle that borrowed some of its pieces from another set.

Two weeks had passed since the end of war, and the townsfolk still hadn't finished accounting for their losses. All of its inhabitants, whether magical or not, were trying to pick up the pieces and move on with their lives, reconstructing whatever had been left of them.

Henry Mills was one of them.

He glanced sadly at the two tombstones before him, letting out a sigh every now and then.

"They died to save us," he whispered, after placing the flowers he was carrying over each grave.

"Yes, Henry," said Snow, who had been standing behind the boy as he said his goodbyes. "They did."

The two of them exchanged a brief look before Henry glanced away, and his eyes lingered on one of the tombstones.

"Thanks, mom," he whispered, trying to smile despite all the unhappiness in his eyes.

"Regina was a true hero, Henry," said Charming, showing up from behind his wife. "And I'm sure she is in peace now, wherever she is."

"And so is Mother Superior," said Snow, as she touched the other tombstone with gratitude in her eyes.

Henry nodded, letting out one final sigh.

"Now I think we should get going, if you still want to see your grandfather," Charming said, trying to cheer Henry up as he squeezed his grandson's shoulder. "Or we're going to be late for your parents' wedding."

And for the first time in many long days, Henry's eyes sparkled with hope as he let out a smile.

* * *

Rumplestiltskin was not sure he was doing the right thing. In fact, now that he had no more magic in him, he was not sure about what he was doing at all.

He was not sure about who he was, either.

And so, as he sat by Belle's bed, talking to the still unconscious woman about what was happening in the little town, he wondered how much he was actually helping. Who was he to help Belle find herself, when he could barely find himself to start with?

Who was he now? An antiquity broker? Yes. Baelfire's father? Yes. And Henry's grandfather too. And that was it.

Well, the pawn shop had been torn to the ground, Baelfire was a grown man who rarely seemed to need him for anything, and Henry… he had a couple of much better-equipped grandparents.

No, the boy didn't need him either. The only person who perhaps did, was precisely the only one he was failing miserably to help.

He glanced at Belle again, and felt extremely tired. And old. And _useless._

He should have listened to his inner demon when the dreadful man told him he would regret coming back. Now, he did. He wished he hadn't. Then, maybe Belle would be alive and awake… maybe she would still be fighting for her memory, but if she never got it back, well… then maybe that would be for the better.

Remembering her time loving a monster? There had to be better things in life than that.

"Baelfire is getting married today," he whispered, in a meek attempt to put aside his gloomy mood. He didn't know exactly what he was trying to accomplish by sharing that piece of information with his despondent ex-girlfriend, but he felt he should say it, anyway. Perhaps she could hear him, after all.

'_No…'_ whispered a wicked voice inside his mind. '_She can't.'_

He blinked, feeling even less inclined to stand up and head to where the wedding would take place.

"You know…" he said again, but this time his eyes were not upon her face. They had landed in some imaginary pit, into which he felt tempted to jump. "I would gladly trade places with you, Belle. I don't really know what I'm doing here."

"Grandpa?"

He turned his head to see Henry and his father by the door.

"Oh, hi Henry," he said, faking a smile. "Bae. Am I late?"

Neal felt a pang in his heart when he realized how awfully depressed his father seemed to be. He felt it was partially his fault; he had spent most of those days after the final battle tending his own wounds and far too concerned with his own plans for the future. His interaction with his own father had been rather bleak, to say the least, and all of a sudden he felt he was a horrible son for not supporting his old man when he probably needed him the most.

"I'm sorry, papa," he said, as he pulled a chair close to the old man and grabbed his hand. "I know I haven't been around much."

"Oh, son, don't be ridiculous," Rumplestiltskin replied. "I guarantee you haven't missed anything special."

The old man's hoarse voice, and the dullness in his eyes, made it clear to Neal that things were worse than he had thought.

"Besides, you have your own family to take care of, now. Emma, Henry, your wedding…" he paused, and patted his son's hand affectionately. "That's a lot to take care of, don't you think?"

"You're my father," Neal answered, as he tightened his grip on the man's hand. "How can I help you?"

Rumplestiltskin smiled, as he shook his head lightly.

"You can't," he replied, looking at Bae, and then at his grandson. "I don't think anyone can, at this point."

Neal tried to swallow the lump in his throat as his eyes rested upon Belle's pale face. Every now and then, she would frown, as if in deep pain, and that was something extremely difficult to watch. No wonder his father looked as miserable as he did: sitting there every day and witnessing the woman he loved suffer had to be nothing but torture, of the worst kind.

"Have you tried True Love's Kiss?" Henry asked, and Neal gently squeezed his shoulder as he did so.

"Yes, Henry," Rumplestiltskin answered. "I have. Many times."

"Do you think the reason it didn't work…" Neal whispered, "is because of her amnesia?"

"I don't really know anymore…" the older man replied, shaking his head. "I don't know what to do anymore."

"You can't stop believing."

Rumplestiltskin had to smile at his grandson's words. If only he still had any faith left in him, but he didn't. He didn't, and he knew that because he had spent every single minute of every single hour of every single day trying to find some, to no avail.

"She needs you to believe," the boy insisted. "She believes in you, so you should, too."

"I believe," Neal said, and it was his turn to pat his father's hand. "I know, that there is good in you. There has always been. And you are a great man."

"Bae…"

He was actually so tired of it all that his son's words didn't even register anywhere near his mind. His stupid heart, however, seemed to have skipped a beat at that vow of trust.

"I think you should have this," said Henry, as he gave his grandfather his storybook. "Maybe you can read your story to her."

"My story is in here?" asked the old man, finding that highly unlikely. Centuries of misdoing would require much more than one volume…

"Well, no, actually, I…" the boy seemed to blush a little. "I wrote a few things, it's not very complete. Or illustrated, but… Maybe you can add the details?"

Another faint smile made its way into Rumplestiltskin's face.

"We are going to give you two some privacy," Neal said, as he stood up and patted his father on the shoulder. "Take as much time as you need."

"Thanks, son."

"Bye, grandpa."

"Bye, Henry."

He watched as father and son left the room, tapping the cover of the book, hesitantly. He was not sure he felt in the mood for another failed attempt to awake the woman by his side.

'_If you're going to do that,'_ a much nicer voice talked to him from somewhere in his mind, '_you should at least believe it will work.'_

"Sounds reasonable," he muttered, while he flipped through the pages and finally found Henry's boyish handwriting.

"_Once upon a time,"_ he read, "_there was a librarian named Belle."_

He chuckled.

"I have to concede it is a promising beginning."

As he read the rest of the story aloud, he realized the boy had taken a considerable amount of time to put together that bit of the story about Belle and him. His grandson surely talked to Ruby, given the amount of detail he included in the parts where he and Belle met at Granny's. He probably talked to a bunch of other people as well, since he was able to depict a number of very particular situations with remarkable precision.

"Oh Belle, our story goes so far behind that, doesn't it?"

Before he could stop himself, his mind took him back to the day when he had come to her family's rescue.

"It actually starts with me striking a bargain with your father," he snorted. "I would help him win the war if you became my maid forever."

He covered his eyes and broke into a fit of laughter. When he finally managed to get a grip on his nerves, he opened his eyes to look at her again.

"How extremely romantic, don't you think, dearie?"

And then, as if it was the most natural thing to do after that bombastic introduction to the topic, he revisited every little moment the two of them spent together in the Dark Castle. He even apologized for not telling her any earlier that the rose she clipped one of those days was actually her _beloved _Gaston.

"I'm sure that the reason you stayed was because I looked too hot for my own sake in leather pants," he whispered, wiggling his eyebrows. "And don't even try to deny it, because I caught you staring once or twice. Yes, I said that. _Staring._"

He chuckled again. Was he really talking about leather pants, to a woman who couldn't even defend herself by telling him to shut up? So much for the sane part of the morning.

Finally, he got to the day when Belle kissed him and the curse started to break, and he remembered how angry and frightened he felt. He had to make an extra effort not to stand up and bang his head against the wall as he relived the atrocities he told her, and the enormous hole he had carved into his own heart with his words.

"And you want to know what's changed from that day until now?" he asked, as he reached out for her hand. "What changed was that… at that time, I wouldn't admit how much I loved you. Now, I do admit it, but other than that, I have nothing left to offer you, Belle. All you would get is an old man with a cracked heart and a limp. I don't even wear leather anymore."

He sighed, looking at her slender fingers.

"But I would, if you asked me too."

Another fit of laughter. His nerves, by now, were nothing but a handful of dust.

"I'm so lost without you…" He then lowered his head until it touched hers, and he felt the smell of her hair fill his nostrils. "I need you here, but I know it is not fair. You deserve better. So if you feel you have to… to… to go, then go. Get some rest, you shouldn't suffer anymore."

"Oh, what am I saying?" he whispered, as tears slowly trickled down his face. "Belle, please don't go! Please come back."

And then he was laughing again.

"I hear there will be iced tea at the reception. You should join me."

"Have I told you I could wear leather again? Hmm? Leather and iced tea, what else could you want?"

He finally stopped rambling to look at her face, hoping to see some kind of reaction to his lame jokes.

_Nothing._

"I love you," he whispered, as he once again lowered his lips to hers, but this time feeling he had already used his trump card, and lost nevertheless. The undeniable defeat left a very bitter taste in his mouth, and he could barely bring himself to say those last words.

"Goodbye, my love."

He stood up, pinching his nose and trying to regain some of his composure as he cast a final glance over the woman before him. He then dragged himself towards the door, hoping that a crater would open to swallow him before his fingers touched the doorknob.

_There are battles you are just not meant to win._

"Rumplestiltskin?"

The man nearly tripped and made a complete fool of himself. He was actually sure he had staggered, and it hadn't been gracious. He clutched his cane when he finally regained his balance, feeling his heart was at his mouth. Yet, he wouldn't dare to turn around to look at her. What if that was just another trick his mind was playing on him?

"Rumplestiltskin!"

"Yes?" he replied, still not looking.

Behind him, there was laughter.

"Won't you look at me?"

"No."

"Well… You'll still be wearing leather for your son's wedding."

"Belle, is that really what made you wake up?" he muttered, as he slowly turned to look at the woman who was now sitting on the bed. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he saw her smiling at him.

"Actually, I heard you laughing," she tilted her head, and made a face. "So maybe it was!"

"Really?" he whispered, limping back as fast as he could to reach Belle. "Usually couples awake to kisses and tears and poems… and you awoke to _laughter?_"

She only shrugged.

"You really are the most extraordinary woman I have ever met."

Belle flung her arms around him, and as he felt her smiling lips on his, he suddenly realized that whatever faith in life he thought he had lost was now rushing back through his veins.


	40. Chapter 40: A chance for a new beginning

_**Chapter 40: A chance for a new beginning**_

"For crying out loud," Neal muttered not for the first time that morning. "It's just a Cravat, it's not rocket science…"

He finally gave up fumbling with the black and grey piece of silk, and wiped the sweat off his forehead as he looked at the mirror.

"My, oh my, look who is getting all flustered over a necktie!"

He turned around to see Tinkerbell entering the room, with a smile splattered across her face.

"It isn't just a necktie, it's a Cravat," he whimpered. "What took you so long?"

"Temper, temper," she replied, reaching out for the man's neck. "Oh, you see, this is what you're doing wrong, it's the plain side that goes against your neck, not the one with folds…"

"I wouldn't peg you for a necktie specialist, you know?" Neal said with a meek smile, as if trying to apologize for his harsh words.

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, I am wearing one myself…"

"Indeed you are…" he replied, feeling slightly less nervous now that his best man had arrived. "I thought you would be wearing a dress?"

"Oh, kid, come on," she said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not the girly type, you know that."

"Well, in that case," Neal stole a nervous glance at the mirror as he talked to the fairy. "I have to say you look better in a suit than I do."

"Hey," she tilted her head to look at him. "Is the man who saved the Savior with True Love's Kiss actually _getting nervous_ before his wedding?"

He shook his head, trying to hide the smile that had formed on his lips.

"She saved me as much as I saved her," he whispered.

"Still! You're a legend!"

"I don't want to be a legend. I just want to be…" he paused, and avoided the fairy's curious eyes. "Never mind, I was about to say something really cheesy."

"You just want to be what, Bae?"

"Oh, don't make me say it."

"Well, next time don't let half the cat out of the bag!"

"It's silly. Really."

"You know, I guess I could undo this Cravat…"

"A good husband," Neal mumbled, trying to look unconcerned. "There. Don't make me say it again."

She frowned, giving him an incredulous look.

"I told you it was silly," he said, fumbling with the rim of his waistcoat.

"Damn right it is!" Tinkerbell exclaimed. "You're her One True Love. I thought you knew what that meant?"

"Of course I do," he answered, feeling that the Cravat had grown awfully tight around his neck. "But that didn't stop me from hurting her before, did it?"

"Well, no one said it would be a smooth ride," she said, shrugging. "But you should let go of the past, Bae. You two have just been given a chance for a fresh new beginning."

"I know…" he muttered, and his eyes grew vacant.

_A new beginning._ Funny how things worked. He had endured all kinds of probations since he left Manhattan, and if there was a thing he thought he would never had, even if he did survive all those trials, was exactly that: a new beginning with Emma Swan. In a way, he now applauded his boldness at proposing to her only a couple of days after the fateful events of the final battle. It had been one of the very few occasions in which he simply wore his heart on his sleeve and didn't let his own regret take the lead.

He was glad Emma had done the same.

"You knew it all the time, didn't you?" Neal asked, when he realized that once again his destiny, and Emma's, seemed inevitably bound by magic.

"What?"

"That we would save each other, with True Love's Kiss? That's why you wanted me to be with her, in the end?"

Tinkerbell let a cryptic smile curl her lips.

"I was just following orders."

"Then she did. Reul Ghorm. She knew it all along."

"If she saw it happening? Nah," Tinkerbell shook her head. "I don't think it works like that. I think she did see Emma dying, I think she did see Cora attacking you, but in the end, having you two together was more of a… leap of faith?" she shrugged, again. "You see, Reul Ghorm was a fan of True Love, and I guess she remained true to it… til the very end."

She then stopped speaking for a moment, and handed Neal his jacket.

"But I'll tell you something…" she continued, "When your lady Swan tumbled to the ground, and I saw you reaching out for her… Oh, Bae."

The fairy let out a sigh and squeezed Neal's arm with a pained expression on her face.

"And I saw the two of you talking… _chatting,_ as if there was no tomorrow, I swear, kid, I felt like coming over and slapping you!"

"Oh, come on…" Neal said, laughing half-heartedly. He remembered those moments far too well, and they had been some of the most painful of his life. "I thought she was actually dying!"

"She _was_ dying! All you had to do was lend her your lips, loverboy!" she said, putting her hands on her hips and pouting. "Just a kiss. But, no! You kept on chatting until the very last second. Un-freaking-believable."

"It can't have been that bad…"

"It can't ha-" Tinkerbell's eyes went wide, and she raised the sleeves of her suit to show Neal reddish scratches all over her arms. "You know how I got these? From a very angry Mama Snow who was trying to get close to her child. And here, look," she tilted her head to show some scratches on her neck as well. "That's what I got while the two of you _chatted._"

She rolled her eyes, and headed to the door.

"But you know… when you finally kissed her, it was like a fucking nuclear explosion. I think you two even shifted some of the barriers between realms, or broke whatever had been left of the curse Regina had cast upon this place."

_Regina._

Things had been so chaotic those last few days that he had barely had the time to truly acknowledge her death. He thought of Henry, and how difficult it must have been for the kid to see it all. Regardless of the circumstances and her own issues with pretty much everyone else in town, Regina Mills had raised and nurtured _his son_ with all that she had, and for that he was grateful.

"Henry…" Neal whispered. "He is devastated."

"Can't blame him," the fairy said, as she leaned against the door. "She was the only family he had for a very long time."

Neal lowered his eyes, unwilling to revisit the chain of events that had led to Henry having the childhood he had had.

"Huh."

"What?" he asked.

"Just thinking," Tinkerbell answered, as she cleaned the lenses of her sunglasses with her tie. "A funeral without a body is always… _sketchy,_ if you ask me."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing…" she shrugged, putting her shades on. "It's just that when people fall into a pit, sometimes…" she raised her eyes to him, and smiled, "they just end up somewhere else, _if you know what I mean._"

"Tell me about it…" Neal whispered, with a frown. He lifted his gaze to meet hers, but she was already heading out.

"Oh, and I forgot to tell you," she screamed, as she walked down the hall. "I brought your friend Elaine."

"What?" a grin stretched across his face. "Where is she?"

"She's… _taking a nap,_" she replied, as she tucked her hands in her pockets. "Now just finish getting ready. Don't worry… I'll make sure she gets a good seat to watch you tie the knot with your lady."

And off she went, to make sure the groom's friend had been decently accommodated before the ceremony began. It didn't take long for her to spot Elaine staggering towards one of the tables where the food and drinks were.

"Hey, I see you've found your way into…" Tinkerbell said, as she approached, "…the drinks?"

"Well, you didn't actually think I would just stay in your car while all this…" the other woman clumsily waved her hands around her, "_Cosplay delight_ took place, right?"

She then made to grab another glass of mead, but a more sober fairy was faster.

"I take it this isn't your first?" the fairy asked.

"First what?"

"Glass."

"Oh, no. No," Elaine chuckled, trying to take the glass from the other woman's hand. "It's actually the second. No, wait. I think it's the third," she snorted. "You know what? I don't know. I got distracted when the seven dwarves arrived."

The woman burst out in laughter, and had to hold on to Tinkerbell's arm not to lose her balance.

"I gotta say though," she whispered, rather drunkenly. "They're taller than I imagined!"

Then she was doubled over again, and her loud laughter made a few heads turn.

"It's hysterical. You have no idea who I first met when I got here and asked where the restrooms were," she pulled the fairy closer and whispered in her ear. "Snow White and Prince Charming!"

She broke into another fit of laughter, which made Tinkerbell feel slightly guilty about leaving her in the car all by herself. The woman was clearly going out of her mind.

"And you know what's best?" Elaine had narrowed her eyes, and her voice lost all of its playfulness. "They told me they are Neal Cassidy's in-laws. And that the wedding is _today!_" she hissed. "Why didn't you tell me? Look at me, I'm not even wearing dress shoes!"

She pointed at her feet, and her heart sank.

"I'm wearing some… hideous loafers for my best friend's wedding!"

Tinkerbell smiled at the woman that now looked positively disconsolate. Perhaps she should have said something about the wedding, after all, but her mischievous side had gotten the best of her, and she had thoroughly enjoyed all the panicked looks the woman would throw her thinking she was some delusional gang member who specialized in kidnapping NYSE stockbrokers.

"If that makes you feel better," the fairy said, taking off her sunglasses and getting ready to share some of her fashion knowledge. "I know a lot about shoes, and I'm sure there's something I can do about yours."

"Oh yeah?" Elaine asked, casting her a suspicious look. "You know about shoes? And who are you, pray tell? Cinderella?"

"Do I even look like a princess?" Tinkerbell asked, putting her hands on her waist.

"No," Elaine whispered back, again looking at her dumb shoes. "You look like… a gangster."

"Oh," the fairy replied, as she adjusted the tie around her neck. "Now that's better."

"How do you know Neal, anyway?" Elaine asked, letting herself fall onto a chair. "What kind of trouble did he get himself into?"

"Hmm," Tinkerbell whispered back, with a finger pressed to her lips. "Nah, I think we should take care of your outfit, first. Hey, Violet!"

She waved to a lady who was about to go past them, wearing a gauzy bluish dress.

"Do you think you can lend me a hand?" she asked. "You see, my friend Elaine here needs some help with her party attire."

"Ok," Violet replied, taking out her wand.

"You know, actually," Tinkerbell whispered, "You might want to do this the traditional way. Like, uh, conjuring the clothes in a mannequin and then giving them to her?"

The other fairy raised her eyebrows, then nodded and put the wand away.

"So, what do you have in mind?" she asked.

"You mean, for my clothes?"

"Yeah."

"Can I have anything I want?"

"I will try my best."

"Ok, so…" Elaine looked around, and pointed to another fairy who was wearing a very fluffy chiffon dress with ribbons and sequins. "I want one of those, but in orange, like her hair," she pointed at Tinkerbell. "And matching dress shoes."

Tinkerbell frowned, with her arms crossed, and only shrugged when Violet asked her for confirmation.

"And a tiara!" she exclaimed, with a dreamy look on her face. "I've always wanted a tiara!"

"I guess that can be arranged," Violet said, with a smile. Then she bowed and left.

"A tiara?" Tinkerbell muttered, looking at Elaine and thinking that the loafers and her boring grey suit were not so bad compared to the outfit the woman had just picked. "Seriously?"

"Oh come on…" Elaine replied, finally getting a grip on the glass of mead. "Half of the guests here look like clowns and you still pick on me…"

The fairy had to laugh, as the other woman joyfully made her way to follow Violet.

* * *

The waiting was not doing Neal any good.

The problem was that, as he waited, he thought, and not exactly pleasant thoughts. He was worried about his father being so miserable, he was worried about his son being so miserable, he was worried he would not be able to help either of them, and well. Add to that the fact he was about_ to get married_.

He let out a sigh. It was not that the wedding was making him feel miserable, far from that. But there was something at the back of his mind telling him something was wrong, and he wished he could just see Emma for a second.

He shook his head. He really had to brush away the feeling that _she would actually change her mind about the whole thing._

"May I come in?" he heard a male voice say.

"Shang?"

He quickly walked to join the man by the door, and the two of them hugged.

"Man," Neal said, looking at the other man's impressive attire, with his red cape and all. "You look as if you are the one who is going to get married, not me."

"I don't think that is entirely true," Shang replied. "I, for one thing, am not wearing a Cravat."

"That is the kind of thing I wouldn't expect to see you in."

The other man nodded, with a calm smile.

"I just would like to thank you for inviting the Providence's crew for your party," he said. "It was very considerate of you."

"Are they here?" Neal asked, but he suspected there wasn't enough havoc outside for that to be the case. "I haven't walked around to greet the guests yet."

"They honestly wanted to come, but an emergency at sea shortly after the final battle led to a sudden change of plans."

"Hook?"

"As usual."

"But then," Neal said, wrinkling his forehead. "You let your crew sail without a captain to attend my wedding?"

"Actually, no," Shang replied calmly, as usual. "They just happen to have a new captain."

"You're telling me…"

"I've retired," the former Captain of the Providence said. "I've left Majima in charge."

Neal couldn't help but feel sorry for Hook, and for anyone else that crossed the way of the Providence from now on, for that matter.

"May I ask what made you retire?"

"You may," Shang replied. "But I'm afraid you know the answer."

It didn't take long for Neal to realize the man was rolling his wedding band on his left ring finger.

"I'm happy for you two," Neal said, reaching out to pat Shang on the shoulder.

_He owed that man his life._

"And thanks," he said. "I wouldn't be here today if it hadn't been for you."

"I'm glad I could help," Shang replied, raising his arm to pat Neal's shoulder as well. "And I thank you, because _I_ wouldn't be here today either, if it hadn't been for _you_."

Then, the two of them smiled as memories of much darker and complicated days flashed before their eyes. In the end, it had all been worth it.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Neal said, as he moved to a cabinet and fished a carefully wrapped sword from inside it. "It's time I returned this."

"Is that my sword?"

"It is."

"Then you can keep it."

"What? I can't… You are its rightful owner."

"Exactly," said Shang, his eyes as peaceful and knowing as always. "And as such, I'm giving it to you. Consider it a wedding present, for the day when you need to defend your family again."

"Shang, I… I," Neal was at a loss for words as he looked at the sword in his hands. "Are you sure?"

"I am."

"Thank you," he muttered at last. "I'll make sure to honor it."

"Baelfire!"

He was still holding his sword when Snow entered the room, panting.

"Something terrible has happened!" she announced, with both hands on her chest.

"Let me guess," Neal said, after taking a long, deep breath. "Emma is nowhere to be found."

"How did you know that?" the woman asked, looking astonished.

"Oh, I know that daughter of yours…" he whispered, as he put the sword back into the cabinet, "...far too well for her own good."

He had felt something was off, and he didn't blame Emma, not in the slightest. If he had been troubled by their past in those excruciatingly long hours, he could only imagine how _she_ was feeling.

"I will find her," he said to his mother-in-law. "Don't worry."


	41. Chapter 41: To love is to believe

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, and "Anyone Else But You" belongs to the Moldy Peaches.**

* * *

**A/N: Here is chapter 41, the longest of them all. I can't say how much I love Neal and Emma together, and how much I truly believe they deserve a beautiful happy ending after everything they have been through. If you enjoy, please review! **

* * *

_You're a part time lover and a full time friend, the monkey on your back is the latest trend_

_I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else...but you._

* * *

_**Chapter 41: To love is to believe**_

Emma Swan stood by Lake Nostos, but her gaze was far beyond its still waters. She took a long, deep breath as she grabbed her immaculate wedding dress and lifted it from the earthy ground while catching a handful of pebbles with her other hand. She then steadied herself, let go of the dress and threw one of the little rocks into the lake, smiling at the ripples it created. So much for life's small pleasures.

She repeated the ritual time after time, letting the soft splashing sound of the pebbles hitting the water wash away her concerns. She knew everyone was waiting for her, and she had to make a decision. They were probably looking for her, already, but she needed to be alone… Just a little longer.

Before she threw another rock in the lake, she saw another pebble was already bouncing on the still waters, and turned her head to find a very well-dressed man standing by her side.

"Neal?"

"Hey, gorgeous."

He kept staring at the lake, now holding his hands behind his back.

"I knew you would be here. You've always liked to be near water when you're upset."

"Yeah, right?" she said, with a sad little smile.

When he finally shifted his gaze to the woman by his side, his jaw dropped a little.

"Oh my God, Emma," he whispered, as his eyes moved from her glossy lips to the carefully styled waves of her blond hair. "You're so beautiful."

She smiled, shaking her head as she too looked at him.

"You too," she replied. "I like your…" she pointed to her own neck, trying to find the word to describe what Neal was wearing, "…tie?"

"Oh, this is actually a Cravat," he said, stuffing his chest pompously.

"Is it?" she said, chuckling. "Well, then, I like your _Cravat._"

Then the two of them burst out laughing.

"Just look at us! We look like two haughty buffoons," Neal exclaimed. "Well, not bad for the couple who could barely afford to take a shower some years ago, I suppose…"

"I miss those days…" Emma sighed.

"Really?" Neal asked, wiping away happy tears as laughter slowly subsided. "You miss not taking showers?"

"Oh, you know what I mean…" she replied, pushing him away.

"Of course I do," he said, after clearing his throat. He then looked back at the lake, as he let memories fill his mind. "But those days are gone, Emma," he whispered, feeling that their past could not be the only thing to bond them together. It was time they started living _in the present._ "We are not the same people we were eleven years ago, and that is _not _a bad thing."

He heard her gasp by his side, and when he turned to look at her face, he could see she was _scared_.

"I don't know if I can do this," she whispered, twisting her hands nervously.

"Do this what?" he asked, as he reached out for her hand, smiling. "Marry me?"

Emma's eyes were glistening with tears, and some of them ran down her face when Neal tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Emma," Neal whispered, now holding her face in his hands. "What is it?"

She raised her eyes to his and more tears fell from them.

"I'm… I'm just… scared," she muttered, as she slowly pressed the palms of her hands on his chest. "Of being happy again, and… and…"

"Then losing it all?"

She nodded, as tears now ran freely down her face. He pulled her into a hug, feeling her sob against his chest.

"I know exactly what it feels like, love" he said, kissing her head as he closed his eyes and tried hard not to let himself be taken back to that night when everything fell apart. He too had been happy, and then lost it all. But now he was willing to pick up the pieces and start over, and he was _so not letting_ Emma go again.

"But hey, what do you say we, uh, we do this thing and then one just gets to help the other stay in stride?" Neal whispered. "And then, if one of us tries to screw up, we can always get one of our in-laws to kick our asses. I hear your mother is quite a fighter, I'm sure she would love to help…"

He heard Emma chuckle against his shoulder, and sighed in relief. _Triumph, at last._

"Why do you always make me smile," she said, as she pulled away from the hug to wipe away her tears, "even when I don't want to?"

"It's one of my superpowers," he replied, smiling as he pressed his forehead to hers.

"So you have more than one?" Emma asked, as she flung her arms around his neck.

"You kidding me?" he replied with a frown, in an attempt to look truly outraged. "Emma Swan, I expected more from you."

Emma chuckled again, and he took that chance to press his lips against hers as his hands moved to her hips. Neal felt the tips of her fingers run up from his nape to his scalp as she parted her lips to grant him access to her mouth. He was more than happy to comply, as he pressed against her body and felt her moan as their kiss deepened, her warm breath sending shivers down his spine.

"Neal?"

"Hmm?" he moaned in response, as he undid the zipper on her back.

"What are you doing?"

"Helping you out of that dress?"

"What?" she gasped, as he started to press soft kisses along her collarbone. "Shouldn't you wait until _after_ the wedding to do that?"

Neal let his lips curl into a smile. He loved when she played damsel in distress, even when that burning look in her eyes was so obviously screaming something completely different.

"Oh, but I _am_ going to do it after we get married too," he whispered into her neck, before catching her earlobe between his teeth.

"You're insane," she gasped again, as her fingers dug into his shoulders.

'_What's the fun to play by the rules, anyway,'_ Neal thought, as all of a sudden his whole wedding attire became far too much to bear, and he had to get rid of his jacket. He then paused, took a long deep breath and looked at Emma with all the pretense seriousness he could muster.

"Do you want me to stop?" he asked, as he pulled away from her.

She stared into his hungry eyes, far too familiar with his old tricks to fall for that one, and let out a knowing smile before nipping at his lower lip lightly as her hand moved to the fly of his pants.

"I'll take that as a 'no'," he whispered, as he unbuttoned the last pearl that was keeping her wedding gown together, and let it slide to the ground.

* * *

Nova just couldn't take that anymore. It was far too much for her nerves, and she was about to join that complete stranger that kept hovering over the drinks in her fluffy orange gown and tiara. Maybe if she took a plunge in the punch bowl she would feel slightly better?

"I can't… I just, I'm not good enough, Leroy," she said, slowly taking off her ceremonial cape.

"Astrid, what are you talking about?" the man asked, taking the cape and following her around, as the woman paced the room shaking her head.

"I have never, _ever_ celebrated a wedding!" she exclaimed, and her voice was strained by despair. "And now, I am supposed to celebrate the wedding of Baelfire and Emma Swan! How? How did this happen? Why me?"

"Because you can do it!" he replied. "I don't even think there is another person who could do it better than you."

"It's too much! What if I say something stupid?" she sighed. "Oh, forget that. It's not an 'if' matter. It's 'when'. 'When' I say something stupid. Leroy, I can't."

"Yes, you can," he said, putting the cape over her shoulders again. "And you will."

"I would if the bride hadn't run away!" Astrid muttered, and her shoulders drooped. "It's a disaster, and-"

"Well, looks like she's back."

"What?"

"I found her," Neal announced, as he and Emma arrived at where their wedding was supposed to be taking place.

"Oh, thank Goodness," Snow said, letting out a relieved sigh as she walked towards her daughter. "Emma, what happened to you? Look at your dress!"

The blond woman looked down at her mud-stained wedding gown, looking slightly distraught.

"I…I tripped and… fell," she muttered, casting Neal a bashful sideways glance that made him feel like laughing.

"And what is _your_ excuse?" asked Tinkerbell, when she saw that the otherwise beautiful Cravat now looked like a napkin hanging from his neck.

"Oh, uh, I… I," he muttered, and it was Emma's turn to smirk. Neal Cassidy at a loss for words? She should take a picture.

"You know what? Don't tell me," the fairy hurriedly said, grabbing him by the arm.

"What?" Neal asked with a frown, as Tinkerbell dragged him to the changing room.

"Your fly is open."

He blushed as he fumbled with his pants, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one else but the fairy had noticed that little security breach in his pantalones.

"Well, yeah, and so she tripped and fell," she whispered, as she reached once again for the piece of silk in his neck. "That explains the mud in her dress, the rubble in her hair, your Cravat and, obviously, the post-coital grin in your face. And in hers."

"You're awfully perceptive," Neal said, shooting her a scared look.

"Thanks," she replied, as she finished rearranging the Cravat around his neck. "You're lucky that your father-in-law, not so much."

"Oh damn, David!" he hissed, as Tinkerbell smoothed his waistcoat and tried to dust of at least some of the dirt from his jacket. "Does he look like he wants to kill me?"

"Not yet, but he'll get there pretty soon, I think your unbuttoned pants gave you away."

"Great… Just great."

"Ok," Tinkerbell whispered, taking a look over Neal's shoulder. "_Now_ he looks like he wants to kill you."

"Well, at least she looks happy," said a familiar voice behind them. "I mean, she might have tripped and fallen, but… She looks extremely _pleased._"

"So do you, by the way," Rumplestiltskin whispered as he walked towards his son.

"Belle?" Neal muttered, feeling his jaw had dropped to the floor. "How? When?"

He spent a good minute studying the woman his father was arm in arm with, and couldn't help but notice that she looked remarkably different than the fragile, amnesiac lady he had met weeks earlier.

"Baelfire," she said, with a smile that lit up her face.

"You remember?" he asked, shifting his glance from her to his father.

"Everything," she replied, and her smile broadened, if that was remotely possible.

He had to be in the twilight zone. There was no other explanation, especially now that he realized his father was actually wearing something that reminded him an awful lot of…_leather pants?_

"Bae, it's time," Tinkerbell whispered, grabbing his arm. "Unless you want the bride to wait for you."

* * *

Astrid took a long, deep breath as she saw Charming walking down the aisle with Emma. She let out a little smile when she realized the man looked as stiff as a board, but his eyes were reddish and teary. The poor thing.

Not too far from her, Snow didn't even bother to hide her tears, wiping them away with a handkerchief that would very soon need to be replaced. When Henry reached her, Astrid patted him on the shoulder and took the rings he was bringing.

"Thank you, Harry."

The boy frowned, and Astrid panicked not for the first time that day. '_Nice going!'_ her mind screamed at her, and she hurriedly apologized to the kid.

"Oh, Henry, I'm sorry! I meant Henry. I'm just nervous," she muttered.

Henry, however, only gave her a hearty smile that made her concerns melt away for a brief second.

She then turned her head to look at the groom, and he looked very cool and collected about the whole deal. _A-ha!_ She let out another smile when she realized that despite his laidback posture, his knuckles were white as he held his wrist with much more strength than he needed to, probably because it was either that or crying, or shaking, and he was not going for either of those two options.

Just like his father, right behind him. Interesting how people would act just like their parents in some circumstances. Rumplestiltskin held Belle's arm in a very clear attempt to show that whole event was not affecting him at all. And so his boy was getting married to his One True Love. So what? He couldn't possibly care less. A very believable story, if it wasn't for the twitch in his face and the nervous fidgeting with his cane.

Belle, on the other hand, was beaming. Lucky girl. She had just woken up in time for the biggest party in all the realm, and she looked as though she could barely wait to learn more about her stepson. She looked from Baelfire to Rumplestiltskin, then to the Charmings, and then to Henry, and then she would swell with happiness as a hot air balloon that would fly off the roof at any given opportunity.

_What a family._

'_Good Heavens,'_ Astrid thought, and her mouth went dry. '_I'm celebrating the ultimate Charmingtiltskin wedding.'_

Emma had finally reached them, and oh, did she look pretty. There was this glow about her, and as Charming placed her hand over Neal's, the fairy couldn't help but sob. She sniffed, realizing that both bride and groom had turned to look at her.

"Oh, go on, go on," she whimpered. "Don't mind me."

Oh, she would certainly do a memorable job, there was no doubt about it.

"Ha ha, I'm just kidding," she whispered again, feeling tremendously stupid when the couple laughed.

She wiped a tear away and fumbled with the papers at the pulpit.

"Dear family and friends, on behalf of Emma and Baelfire, I welcome you all for this marriage ceremony," Astrid then stopped reading, and frowned. "Oh, what am I doing?" she whispered, ignoring the murmurs around her.

She put her hands over the paper, and raised her eyes to look at the couple in front of her.

"Emma and Baelfire, I feel I have known you for such a long time. And yet, I don't really. I know very little of your lives before you returned to Storybrooke, and the curious thing? I'm sure your family here feels the same.

"You two have had such difficult lives... Emma, 28 years ago, I remember I saw you in your mother's arms, instants before the curse was cast. Baelfire, I don't remember seeing you when you were younger, but I know when you left to a world without magic, you had nothing, and nobody.

"You both had to fight your way into a very hostile world, all by yourselves, and I don't think anyone here has a remote idea of what you've had to endure. Actually, I lie. If there is anyone in here that knows exactly what loneliness is, that has to be the person you're about to get married to.

"And because life is full of surprises, you two met, despite all odds, and fell in love, despite all odds. But because life is full of surprises, Emma, you had to be stripped of that as well. Separated from your parents, from your son, from the man you loved.

"Baelfire, I know your selflessness that night is the reason why we are here today. I am sorry if I am touching an open wound, but my point is that whether you knew it or not, by giving up the woman you loved so that she could reunite with her family, you showed how much her happiness mattered to you, even if your decision left you with nothing, _again._

"Now happiness… happiness is a long, winding road. Emma, Bae, look around you. Your parents, your son, these people never stopped believing in you. So remember, even in the darkest of all nights, just remember this: to love is to believe. As long as you believe in each other, you will be safe. You will not drift apart. And if you do, it is your hope and your faith that will bring you back together. And you know why?

"Because love waits, and love _always wins_."

Astrid reached out for the rings in the pulpit, and handed them to the couple before her. A rush of adrenalin ran through her body as she remembered she didn't know Baelfire's full name, but luckily Tinkerbell had written it for her. Now all she had to do was find the damn paper, as she fumbled in the pockets of her vest.

"Ok," she sighed in relief, as she unfolded the paper and frowned. "Nealfire Bae von Tiltskin Cassidy, is that your name?" she asked, with her eyes wide.

Neal only laughed as he shook his head, turning his head slightly to see a very amused Tinkerbell a few steps behind him.

"I suppose you can use 'Neal Cassidy, also known as Baelfire', for the sake of continuity," he whispered, smiling at the woman by his side.

"As you wish," Astrid replied. "Neal Cassidy, also known as Baelfire, do you take Emma Swan as your wife, to love, honor and cherish her for the rest of your life?"

"I do," he answered, struggling not to let the wedding band fall from his shaky hands as he put it on Emma's left ring finger.

"Emma Swan, do you take Bae Cassidy, also known as Nealfire," behind them, Tinkerbell chuckled, but Nova continued, unaware of her small mix-up, "as your husband, to love, honor and cherish him for the rest of your life?"

"I do," she said, as she slid the ring on his finger with a happy smile on her face.

"Then," she took out her wand, and pointed it to their joined left hands. "May you live happily ever after," she said, as an ethereal white ribbon fell upon their hands and tied them together, quickly dissolving afterwards. "You may kiss the bride."

Astrid watched as Baelfire held Emma's shoulders, and felt the corners of her eyes prickle as he kissed his wife's lips. Well, maybe celebrating weddings was still a little out of her league. The day she became able to get a grip on her own emotions, perhaps she would try it again.

* * *

"Neal?"

"Elaine!"

"Oh Neal!"

"Elaine!"

Half of Neal's surprise when he saw Elaine for the first time that day was due to the fact the woman was wearing one of the strangest dresses he had ever seen in his entire life, and a tiara. He would have never, ever in his life pegged Elaine for the kind of woman who would wear a tiara.

"I was worried sick about you!" he heard her say, as they hugged. He knew he was about to be lectured, but for once he didn't care. "How is it you just up and leave without telling anyone, without telling me! I thought you were… _dead._ And then your gangster friend showed up and I thought something even worse had happened," she then pulled away from the hug and pointed at Tinkerbell. "Like, I don't know, since when you have things with the Mafia?"

"Elaine, I don't have anything to do with the Mafia," he replied, smiling. Then, he thought of his days at the Providence, and felt that piece of information was not entirely true. "Well, maybe I now do, but still!"

"Oh, I missed you!" she exclaimed, hugging him again.

"I missed you too!" he answered, and as he spoke, he noticed he had his entire family to introduce to his friend. "This is my father, and his girlfriend, Belle."

"Rumplestiltskin," the older man said, outstretching his arm for a handshake.

"Ah… " Elaine eyed him with a suspicious smile. "Of course you are. And I am Xena, the Warrior Princess," she said, shaking his hand, and then Belle's. "Pleased to meet you."

"My pleasure," Rumplestiltskin replied, raising an eyebrow.

"And I think you have already met my in-laws?" Neal pointed at the couple across the hall.

"Of course," she said, finding that whole Cosplay wedding extremely creative. "Snow White and Prince Charming."

As she waved to them, she got the feeling there had to be something other than their gallant outfits to make them look that _young._

"You got married, Neal!" she exclaimed, turning to look at her friend. "How did this happen?"

Neal looked at her, and wished, for a moment, he could tell her exactly _how that had happened._ Maybe one day he would.

"Oh, by the way, let me introduce you to my wife, Emma," he said, holding Emma's hand with a smile.

"So you're the real Emma," Elaine whispered, and her jaw dropped a little.

"There's a fake Emma Swan going around in Manhattan?" Emma asked, unable to stop a little smile from curling the corners of her lips. "Someone should tell Public Safety, then."

"Oh, many fake Emmas," Elaine whispered again. "And trust me, that man has dated all of them."

It was Neal's jaw that now dropped to the floor.

"Oh," Emma answered, as her smile slowly turned into a sneer that could peel the paint off a wall. "Good to know."

"But it never worked, and now I see why," the other woman added. "Look at you two together!" Elaine then covered her mouth and stared at the couple in disbelief. "Oh my God, you're so beautiful! Oh! I mean, I can't even begin to imagine how great your kids are gonna look like, you're so adorable together."

"Hi!" said Henry, showing up by her side.

"Oh, hi!"

"Uh, Elaine?" Neal put a hand over Henry's shoulder, as his friend tilted her head to look at the kid. "This is our son, Henry."

"Oh," she whispered, looking from the boy to Neal, then from Neal to Emma and back at the boy. "Look at you. You have a family," she sniffed, and when she looked back at Neal, her eyes were filled with tears. "And you look _so happy._"

To think that less than a month ago, she had actually thought that day would never come.

"Kid, let me tell you this," she said, as she clumsily lowered her face to look at Henry. "I've known your father for six years and... You should be really proud he's your dad. He's a wonderful man."

She then stood up straight again, and wiped her tears away in the sleeve of her dress.

"You're not going back to Manhattan, are you?" she moaned.

"Probably not," he replied, rubbing her shoulder lovingly. "I'm planning to stay here to help my father with his store."

"Then I'm never going to see you again?"

"Are you kidding?" Neal exclaimed. "Of course you will, especially now that you've made friends with Tinkerbell."

Behind them, the fairy raised her glass of mead, and waved.

"Tinkerbell?" Elaine asked. "As in, _'kill Wendy because she's a bird'_ Tinkerbell?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "Lovely."

"I like her," Emma whispered in Neal's ear.

"And I've just been informed that my wife likes you too, so yeah… We'll be seeing each other. Definitely."

"I'm not gonna say goodbye," she whimpered.

"Don't," Neal replied.

"Oh, thanks for getting her crying," said Tinkerbell as she approached the group. "It's certainly going to make a long journey much more… _refreshing._"

She had to raise her glass even higher not to spill her drink when Elaine hugged her in a mix of exacerbated emotions and alcohol.

"Thanks for bringing me here," she muttered.

"Yeah, yeah…" the fairy replied with a frown, patting the woman in the back with her free hand. "You're welcome. Can you wait for me in the car?" she asked, finally remembering she had one more thing to do before she took Elaine back to Manhattan. "I'll be with you in one second."

Tinkerbell looked around for a moment, and it didn't take long for her to finally spot who she was looking for.

"Nova?"

"Yes?"

"Great job today."

"See, what did I tell you?" Leroy said, nudging Astrid with a smile.

"I think it's time I gave you something," Tinkerbell announced, taking out a wand from inside her jacket.

"But this… this is…" Astrid gasped when her eyes landed on the bluish wand the other fairy was holding.

"Reul Ghorm's wand, yes," Tinkerbell replied. "She made it very clear she wanted it to be handed to you."

"But I… I can't. I'm not ready," Astrid muttered, looking from the woman in front of her to Leroy with a panicked look on her face.

"We'll have to agree to disagree on that one," the redhead answered, crossing her arms. "That day, when she called you to hear her story, it was because she needed you to know that you were not the first fairy to be faced with a difficult choice. I chose power over love, Reul Ghorm chose power and love... She believed you would make the right decision."

Before walking away, Tinkerbell cast a glance upon Leroy, and then her eyes met Astrid's again.

"Good luck," she whispered, as she turned away from the two of them and walked back to where the newlyweds were saying their goodbyes.

"Hey, looks like the lovebirds are not in a hurry to get to their honeymoon," she exclaimed, watching Neal and Emma still talking to their family.

"Tinkerbell, can I ask you something?" Henry asked.

"Sure, kid, hit me."

"Henry…" Emma was looking at them with a fair amount of concern.

"Are you my fairy godmother?" the boy asked.

"Who told you that?" the fairy lifted her gaze from the boy's face to his father's, but Neal only shrugged.

"I was just thinking that maybe the Blue Fairy was dad's, and since you can travel between worlds, then you might be the one who brought me to Storybrooke in the first place…"

"My, oh my…" Tinkerbell whispered, after shuffling Henry's hair. "You're _awfully perceptive_, aren't you?" she again cast a quick glance at Neal, before kneeling in front of the boy. "I sprinkled fairy dust on you when you were just a baby, and you flew with me. You know what that makes you?"

"A Lost Boy," Neal replied, looking at his son with nothing but the purest excitement in his eyes.

"Exactly," the fairy continued. "And you know what that means?"

The boy gave her a very curious glance.

"Free admission to Neverland, whenever you want," she concluded.

"You mean…" he asked, and his eyes seemed to sparkle. "You can take me there like, right now?"

"I could, but I'm afraid you'll need your parents' permission."

"Fine with me," Neal said, crossing his arms.

"Neal!" Emma, however, did not share the same enthusiasm with the idea. "Henry…" she reached out for her son's arm. "Henry… look, can you wait a little? Just until your father and I come back?"

"Emma…" Snow whispered, as if trying to point out a trip could certainly lift Henry's spirits after everything he had been through.

"What?" Emma hissed back, daring anyone else to try and convince her to change her mind.

Snow simply rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Ok," Henry whispered, looking less than pleased with how that conversation had ended.

"Thanks, kid," Emma replied, with a smile. She then kissed him on the forehead, and headed to the bug.

"Your wife hates me," Tinkerbell whispered in Neal's ear.

"She does," he whispered back, as he made to follow his wife. He then stopped on his tracks, and turned to the fairy with a puzzled look on his face. "I have no idea how to get to Florida from… wherever we are."

"Oh don't worry about that, I got you the same sort of GPS I have in my new car," the fairy replied. If there was any advantage to Lost Boys leaving Neverland, it was that eventually you would find one in Vegas, and benefit from their _special deals. _"It will help you in and out of town as many times as you need."

"Thanks," he smiled back, and ran to Henry to kiss him goodbye, before following Emma to the car.

"And so you've dated many Emmas, huh?" asked his wife, as soon as both of them stood by the bug.

"Why do I get the feeling that whatever I say will get me into trouble?"

"You're damn right it will!" Emma replied, punching him in the arm. "You know, I was even thinking of giving you a… _wedding present_ while we drove to Tallahassee, but now…" she shook her head, making a face.

"I honestly can't believe my luck," he said, before letting out a sigh. "Maybe if I let you drive the bug…?"

"_Let_ me?" she replied, raising her eyebrows. "Let me drive _my own car_? What an honor."

"I'm just sinking deeper, aren't I?" he asked, wrinkling his forehead and hoping his puppy eyes would buy him some mercy. "Should I sing?"

She laughed heartily.

"_The pebbles forgive me, the trees forgive me, so why can't you forgive me?"_ he sang, and laughed at himself almost as much as she was laughing. "_I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else...but you."_

She then shook her head, and found out there was no point trying to stay angry with that man for long.

"You know, if you really want my gift, perhaps you shouldn't let me drive the bug after all."

"Is this a catch?" he asked, hugging her and kissing her forehead.

"No, Neal," she replied, rolling her eyes while a smile curled her lips. "It isn't, but I am beginning to change my mind…"

"You know what?" he said, quickly taking the keys from her hands and heading to the driver's seat. "You're probably too tired to drive _your own car,_ so I'll do it, if you don't mind."

"Now those are two people who really love to talk," Tinkerbell muttered to herself, as she watched the newlywed couple engage in yet another lengthy dialogue before entering the car.

The engine started, and soon enough Neal and Emma were waving a goodbye to their family as the bug slowly disappeared into the sunset.

"Hey Henry," Snow whispered, as Henry watched his parents drive away with a sad little smile on his face. "You know what they say about grandmothers doing exactly the opposite of what mothers want?" she cast Belle an enigmatic glance, and the woman nodded in response. "That is totally true."

"Go pack your bag, kid," Tinkerbell said with a smile, as she patted the boy on the shoulder and headed to her own car. "I'll be back tomorrow morning to get you."

"Seriously?" Henry exclaimed, with his eyes wide open.

"Emma is so gonna kill me for this," Snow whispered again, biting her lip.

"Well, I don't think she can until she finds out," said Rumplestiltskin, with a very unconcerned look on his face.

"Are you suggesting we lie?" Charming asked, with a frown.

"No, Charming," the older man replied, with a sneer. "You might as well just send her a telegram telling the truth."

Emma's father just stared at Rumplestiltskin with his hands on his waist, and then a smile crawled to his lips.

"Why do I always get caught in these crazy entanglements?" he asked, shaking his head as he threw his wife an entertained look.

"Welcome to the family, Charming!"

"Belle!" he exclaimed, looking at the other woman's excited grin in utter disbelief. "You too?"

Rumplestiltskin narrowed his eyes, and made to walk past the other man. Midway, however, he stopped.

"Who do you think got Henry to ask Tinkerbell about the fairy godmother business in the first place?" he whispered, and Charming raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh, what can I do?" Belle replied, with the broadest smile she could give. "I have a natural curiosity for such things."

Again, Charming couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head.

_That was one hell of a family._

"You know, we should all get something to eat, and… discuss how we'll pull this one off," he said, as he flung one arm over Snow's shoulder and joined Henry and his other two grandparents on their way to one of the dining tables.


	42. Epilogue

_**A/N: So this is it, everyone. We have reached the end of our journey. I hope you enjoyed this ride as much as I did. I thank all of you who took your time to read, follow and review – I was glad to add a little fable to all the SwanFire legacy out there. Feel free to leave a review on your way out, and make this writer a happy person!**_

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_"Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot."_

_Neil Gaiman_

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**Epilogue**

"We got ourselves a UPS," Emma said as she approached her husband with a parcel on her hands.

"From?" Neal asked.

"It doesn't say."

He opened the package, and found a little note attached to a bluish wand.

'_Dear Emma and Bae,_

_I'm sure you'll know what to do with it._

_Love,_

_Astrid and Leroy.'_

"Ha, no way…" said Emma, with a smile on her face as she read the note from over Neal's shoulder.

"Care to do the honors?" he asked, as he held the wand.

"You throw better than I do," she replied.

Neal gave her a quick kiss on her lips, and turned to face the lake. He took a final look at the wand, and remembered how magic had affected their lives in so many diverse and confusing ways. One thing was certain: there was no way they could ever get rid of it completely, not being who they were.

_It was not a bad thing, though._

Smiling lightly, he swung his arm backwards, and then threw the wand into the lake. He and Emma watched as it hit the water a few seconds later, and suddenly disappeared under its glossy surface.

When he turned around to face his wife again, he realized she was eyeing her cell phone with concern written all over her face.

"I just don't understand…" she whispered. "Every time I try to talk to Henry, he can never pick up the phone. My mother keeps feeding me these excuses, that he's at school, he's at the library, he's at your father's… Then I call your father, and he tells me Henry is at my mother's…"

"I'm sure he's fine," Neal whispered, as he hugged Emma from behind. "Besides, we'll be back in a few days…"

"He's in Neverland, isn't he?" she asked, sounding less than amused.

Neal raised his eyebrows.

"If he is, I swear I have nothing to do with it," he replied, trying to sound as serious as he could, but finding the whole arrangement, if there had indeed been one, rather amusing.

He saw her droop her shoulders in defeat, and took that chance to nuzzle against her neck.

"Baby?"

"Hmm?" Emma moaned, as she closed her eyes and leaned closer to his chest.

"You still haven't told me what your favorite room in the house is."

"That's because I still don't know…" she whispered, running her fingers along his arms. "They all are beautiful."

"So you like the house, then?" he asked, twisting a strand of her hair in his fingers.

"I take it that my crying when I came in for the first time has not convinced you?" she said, turning around to look into his eyes.

"It kind of has," he answered with a smile. "But I like it when you say it."

"I love our house," Emma whispered, and Neal saw her smile in a way that made her look eleven years younger.

"And I love you," he said, feeling he was the luckiest man to walk on earth.

"I love you too."

They kissed, and when she pulled away, he saw her reach out for a tiny card in the pocket of her jeans.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you something," she said. "Do you have any idea why your best man Tinkerbell attached this card to her very original wedding gift, a bottle of sake?"

'_To SwanFire. Enjoy, by the fireplace.'_

"Since we don't have a fireplace?"

Neal smiled, taking the little card in his own hands. Sake, by the fireplace… Of course he knew exactly what the fairy was talking about.

"You know, if we get back inside, I think I can explain," he whispered in Emma's ear.

"Oh, can you?"

"Indeed I can," he chuckled, as his hands slid to her hips.

"Can't you explain now?" she purred back, rubbing her body against his. "It wouldn't be the first time you did so… by a lake."

Neal had to smile at her lustful attempts.

"I'd love to, but it really has to be inside the house," he replied, feeling that his plans would soon go down the drain if she kept grinding her hips against his that way. "It has some very specific details."

Emma gave him a quick kiss on the lips before grabbing his hand and dragging him back into their house. As he made to follow her, Neal had time to take a final look at the lake, and his mind drifted for one moment to magic and all the battles that had yet to be fought…

By someone else… the next time.

_The End._


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